Noble Life
by SpartanCommando
Summary: For the moment, its complete. Don't worry, It'll be back up within a week. Please, read my last note loyal Halo Fan fic bros and sisters.
1. Chapter 1

_Intro_

Noble Six watched as, what was almost certainly the final UNSC warship, the _Pillar of Autumn _left its dock near the Aszod ship breaking yards. The SPARTAN found it, if only in a fatalistic sense, amusing that the ship carrying humanity's game changer was leaving from a location where similar warships had been dismantled. The ships' atmospheric rocket pods activated and began to change its direction.

Six looked on as the rocket pods flames began to flicker slightly. Seconds later they began to detach from their position as the _Autumn's _engines activated. He tilted his head to keep the Halcyon Class Cruiser in his field of vision for a few moments longer. So much had been sacrificed, so much blood shed, all for this one launch. In his mind it would dishonor all that if he did not watch it leave Reach.

Reach. The Crown Jewel of Humanity, and soon to be sight of its greatest defeat. If Earth was considered the heart of humanity, then Reach was the heart of the UNSC. This one world, this one military facility, represented so much to his species. Reach had always been seen as safe, untouchable. How wrong they had all been, soon the very ground he now stood upon would be glassed. Just like the dozens of other human colonies now lost.

Despite all of its military might Reach could not stand up against the Covenant. The Millions of Troopers, Marines, Militia, Sailors, and Airman, the thousands of vehicles, the hundreds of warships. All useless and in the end, all but annihilated. He did take some solace in the knowledge that Reach wouldn't be forgotten, no matter who won the war. The damned aliens wouldn't forget the fact that humans had cost them so much to obtain their victory. The only report he had received on the space battle had mentioned that the Covenant armada had lost well over half of its number, and there was no doubt in his mind the aliens had encountered more than one type of hell on the ground.

If Dr. Halsey war correct, then the A.I. and he had handed to Captain Keyes would use the knowledge it held to turn the tide of the war. Certainly by simply being in the caverns beneath ONI Sword Base Six had seen that there was, however long ago, a race of beings more powerful than the Covenant. Perhaps the crew of the _Autumn _would go of into the farthest reaches of space and discover some ancient super weapon, or technology. Or maybe the species still existed in some form elsewhere in the galaxy and could well be willing to aid them.

If their mission succeeded, whatever it may be, humanity may well survive the war. If they did then Reach would likely be remembered as the sight of the largest battle ever fought in galactic history. It certainly looked that way to him anyway. The Covenant had found Reach and then invaded with a fleet numbering in the hundreds. Its army landing with troops well into the billions given the large numbers of troops a single enemy warship carried. Reach had boasted over a 150 ships, over 300,000,000 defense personnel, twenty of the massive Orbital Defense Platforms, and then of course there were the Spartans.

Not even the best of humanity's soldiers could stop the massive Covenant war machine. He had an answer to Kat's question now, the thought of Noble Team's second in command brought up a wave of sadness. They were never losing the battle, they had lost it the moment the Covenant arrived en masse. As the _Pillar of Autumn _left his range of sight Six knew he was alone now. There were likely at the most only a few hundred survivors left on Reach, perhaps a few civilians were now waiting in a bunker, foolishly hoping that they could survive the glassing.

Six left his position on the ground and began climbing back up to the Mass Driver he had used to destroy a Covenant Assault cruiser. The little light left reflecting of his dark green MJOLNIR, and the small bits of gold around parts of his body. Reaching the top of the structure the Spartan looked off into the distance.

From his current high position he could make out a battle far from where he was. He could see a Scarab, and other Covenant vehicles engaging a small unit of Army Mechanized Infantry. The M808 MBT firing its 105mm High Velocity cannon doing very little to the massive behemoth destroying the few warthogs accompanying it. There was no hope for survival, not for them, not for him. Soon he watched the last of the attacking humans destroy a pair of Wraiths before they were in turn killed.

The Spartan felt some pride in the knowledge that the few humans left on this once beautiful world would not go quietly into permanent night. He was going to die on Reach, but first he would have to disobey Noble One's first order to him.

'_Leave that Lone Wolf stuff behind.' _

On Reach he felt something he had not felt for many years. He felt like part of a team, and despite his solo attitude during the years after he was taken out of Beta Company, it was something he had secretly missed. Now…. Now he was a lone wolf once again. Jorge, Kat, Carter, Emile. There was a chance Jun was still alive he assumed, after all Noble Teams' sniper was supposed to escort Dr. Halsey to CASTLE Base. The base was the most well protected installation on all Reach and would likely survive for a few days.

According to the Doctor, the Covenant was interested in strange artifacts. Six assumed that logically, CASTLE Base could have several such artifacts hidden inside. They would try to excavate the area and find a way in. If Jun made it with the doctor then he would have one mission left. Ensure that no intelligence of _any_ kind fell into enemy hands.

Six tilted his head to the side and glanced at the figure near him. Emile laid slumped on a small rail surrounded by two Elite Zealots, two small holes showing on his chest plate the exit for the tips of the energy sword that killed him. Typical to his killer nature the dying Spartan took the alien with him, the knife he kept on his shoulder embedded in the Zealots throat.

For the first time since the Covenant had arrived on Reach, Six found himself finally feeling the effects of the constant battles. Six felt all the injuries he had sustained, all the bruises, a few cracked bones, and three broken ribs. The pain would be unbelievable to the average human, but to a Spartan it was merely bothersome. Still he felt that he needed to take a real break, to rest before his final battle. There was still one thing he had to do before he allowed himself the luxury of a few minutes respite.

Six walked over to Emile's body and kneeled in front of it. The Spartan reached out and laid his hand on the base of the fallen Spartan's helmet. He began to short process of removing the piece of equipment and soon found himself staring at the mans face. Dark skinned, slightly scared, a broken nose, blood flowing from several cuts, a pair of lips curled in a contented smile. The man had died the way he wanted, taking his enemy with him.

Six bowed his head to the late Noble Four in a short display of mourning. Raising his helmeted head back to face his dead Spartan brother, a green and gold armored hand reached for the dog tags previously covered by the helmet. Gently he slid the tags over Emile's head and then placed the helmet over his face again.

Lifting a hand over a the side of his chest piece, Six opened a small compartment. He pulled out two more pairs of dog tags and added them to the one he held in his other hand. Closing his eyes Six pictured them once again, and saw their deaths occur once more. His photographic memory denied him the right to forget anything he ever saw, or did.

Six saw Jorge hand him the larger Spartans' own tags and grip his hand fiercely, before lifting him up and throwing him out into space. He saw Kat standing next to him in the elevator, her quiet voice beautiful to his ears carrying a trace of fear, saw her body fall halfway before he caught her. Then he remembered Carter and his complete faith in Six's ability to complete the mission, right up to when he crashed his pelican into a Scarab to give them a chance. And he replayed Emile stabbed in the back by a Zealot, the honor obsessed creature seemingly forgoing any such idea to kill the Spartan.

Six closed his fist over the tags, and held them close to his heart for a few moments. In the short month he had know them, he had felt like he truly belonged. That he was not just some Captain's personal assassin, a tool. He was what he was meant to be, a Spartan, and he was damned proud to have finally felt such after everything. Even if it was just for a short time.

Placing back the dog tags in the hidden compartment, Six sat down next to Emile still looking at the skull painted helmet.

"You did good Warrant Officer. You did your duty…. Brother." Six then looked off into the distance once again. He saw storm clouds off in the distance, the flashes of lighting signaling that a Covenant ship had begun to glass. Lifting his hands to his helmet, Six removed it and stared at the piece of armor that had served as a constant reminder of who he was. During the seven years after being reassigned from Beta Company he had eliminated many threats to the UNSC. A fair amount he had done without donning his set of armor.

The visor reflected his image and once again he stared at his own face. Lightly tanned, an emerald green right, and a golden left eye, a surprisingly unscarred face, brown hair that had grown unruly and reached halfway to his shoulders in the time he had spent in the armor, reddish-brown lips, and a regal nose. As some of his missions required him to infiltrate suspected insurrectionist groups he knew he was considered handsome, something he had a type of grip on due to his contact with civilians. Several times he had used his looks to his advantage, but felt almost dirty after. Using people like that, seemed wrong somehow to him.

With a snort he put the helmet over head once again and activated his shields. Looking around his position he saw there were no Covenant with the area, the Phantom and Spirit drop ships far off engaging what few friendly air assets remained. He laid his back on the floor and allowed himself to relax for just a few moments. He could worry about where he would make his last stand later. For now he was going to enjoy the simple pleasure of being alive for a few moments longer.

With a smile, Leo-B312 fell into a light sleep and like the few times he had slept since joining Noble he knew he would not have a nightmare.


	2. Chapter 2

_Requiem of a Noble_

_**A226**_

Jun-A266, Warrant Officer and Sniper for Noble Team, sat in the troop compartment of the second Pelican from ONI Sword Base. He was at the moment staring out the front view port of the work horse behind all UNSC air operations. Dr. Halsey, who was flying the bird on a course towards CASTLE Base, was being assisted by yet _another _AI this time name Kalmiya. Jun had never liked AI's, and being ordered around and reassigned by them was certainly not helping his opinion on them.

If one was to look past his helmet, they would see a face all but made of stone, devoid of any emotion. The sniper's mind however was another matter entirely. His mind was going over twenty different thoughts at the same time, none of them good. Were the Commander, Emile, and Six still alive? Did they accomplish their mission? If they did could they make it to CASTLE Base on their own?

Was he the last Spartan of Noble Team?

The last one gave him a sickening feeling in his gut. First Jorge, the Kat. Noble had already lost two of its members in only a few days. Jun did not want to think of the team going from six just a month ago, to only one man now. So, in order to take his mind off its troubling path Jun began to talk with the doctor. And the AI as well unfortunately.

"So. Could you check if the _Pillar of Autumn _escaped yet?" He directed the question to Dr. Halsey. "Or maybe _it_ can?"

"First off, her name is Kalmiya." The doctor answered coldly, eyes turned half a degree in his direction and giving him a glare. "And the answer is yes. Captain Keyes and his ship successfully left the surface and entered slip-space approximately one hour, and thirty five minutes ago."

"Wonderful. Our last shot at escaping this hell hole is gone, along with an AI that supposedly holds the 'latchkey discovery' that may well turn the course of the war. Excuse me for getting too excited." He said sarcastically. In truth Jun knew all of Reach's defenders had done their duty. They had fought the Covenant as long as they could, had killed at least several hundred million of the bastards, and stalled them from reaching Earth for at least several more weeks.

It may not have been a cause for celebration, and drowning in alcohol but it was better than nothing. It was a small comfort to the knowledge that humanity had failed. Noble Team had failed…. _He _had failed. Jun closed his eyes as memories of Alpha Company passed through his mind. He, Carter, and Emile had all been pulled from the company before Operation: PROMETHEUS. Before his first team and family was slaughtered. He failed them, and although he had not physically witnessed their deaths he saw them. Every moment he fell asleep, every time he allowed his mind to drift off towards the past. Every time Noble had lost a member.

Next to Carter, and Kat, Jun was the oldest Noble Spartan. He had been a part of Noble team for nearly seven years. In that time there had been five other Noble Spartans aside from the team that had fought together just a month ago. Each of those five had died during his seven years. Lost in his private thoughts, Jun barely noticed that the doctor had said something to him again.

"Its not just her you know. She has been partn-"

"She? No disrespect Ma'am but I refuse to call them anything other than 'it'. They're not alive doc." Jun interrupted her. He had lost count of the number of missions he had been sent on to ensure the Cole Protocol had been enacted and AI he was ordered to wipe. To him the talking computers were just as much trouble as help. He only worked with them as needed, he trusted his fellow Spartans above all else. _Especially _AI.

"You're free to your opinions Warrant Officer, but I would appreciate it if you did not interrupt me." The doctor said as she sent him another glare. Noble Three raised both his hands in mock submission, earning a pair of narrowed eyes from Dr. Halsey.

"Sorry doc. Got my word I won't be interrupting you anytime soon. Would you kindly continue?" After shaking her head slightly the doctor began to speak once again.

"_She_, Cortana, has chosen Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 as her partner. I assume you know about him?" The way she asked him almost offended him. _Everyone_ in Special Warfare Command had heard of the commander of the Spartan-IIs and his track record.

"Quite possibly the most highly decorated soldier in the UNSC, also the one with the highest groundside body count, holder of all Military awards aside from one, and let me guess. Humanity's last best hope?"

"That's the one Noble Three," She said turning her gaze back towards the front. In the distance the silhouettes of several Covenant warships could be seen. Being that the aliens were too busy glassing Reach, a single lone Pelican would not be paid much attention. _After all,_ he thought darkly, _What threat do a couple of humans pose, when their strongest fortress has already fallen. _

"They better be worth it doc." He said quietly, almost to himself.

"You say something Spartan?" She asked picking up on his sour mood.

"I said they better be worth all of this," He said gesturing to the view screen with a single hand before he turned to look at her, "We lost so much, just to give Sierra 117 and your AI this chance. This all meant nothing, if the same happens to Earth." The doctor nodded her head, a serious look on her face replacing her annoyance at him.

"Do you want to know why I choose him to be a Spartan? Why Cortana choose him to be her partner?" Jun shrugged his shoulders in confusion, confusion which doubled as a smile crossed her aged face. "We choose him for the same reason. Luck."

_**B312**_

Leo opened his eyes as a strange sound came to his ears. On pure reflex he rolled onto his front pushed himself off the ground, pulling out his M6G in a single fluid motion. Scanning the area in front of him quickly he quickly ran to the nearest available cover, the side of the MAC launcher he had used to destroy the Covenant Assault cruiser. Looking at his motion tracker he saw there was a small flicker of movement.

He stared at it for an additional half-second, it was strange. Instead of the large red dots for hostiles, or the yellow for friendly. Instead it was the white for neutral contacts, which considering the course of the battle was surprising. What could still be alive on Reach that wasn't likely Covenant, or the occasional human? After he had re-holstered his M6 sidearm, Leo reached for his knife and quietly slid it out.

Despite knowing he would die soon Leo wanted it to be on _his_ terms, not theirs. They had surprised this world's defenders, they had ambushed many convoys of survivors trying to make their way to the _Pillar of Autumn. _The Covenant had killed too many humans by using the element of surprise and their superior numbers to overwhelm them time and time again. When he died, he would turn the tables on the alien bastards. He would ambush _them_, he would be the hunter and they his prey.

And just like the Guta he and Jun had seen just days before Jorge had died, he would be overwhelmed. The indigenous monster had been a freak of nature, fully a full three quarters over the average size of an adult male. Standing at about 500 centimeters the towering giant had dwarfed him and Jun in size. The two Spartans had witnessed the creature lay an ambush for a Covenant patrol. It had waited until a pair of hunters had passed before launching its attack.

It had used its two nearly seven foot long tusks to swipe aside one hunter before it had pulled the other into two separate halves. The rest of the patrol opened fire but plasma bolts could not penetrate its thick skin far enough to strike vital organs, needler rifles failed to cause large enough explosions, and the few plasma grenades thrown failed to do much damage at all. In fact it was only when the first hunter had fired its Fuel Rod cannon that the Guta was injured. The instant after the beast had nearly toppled over a Zealot had jumped on its back and plunged its energy sword into its neck, only to be crushed when the creature rolled onto its back.

The beast had survived but ran from the patrol. In its wake were dozens of dead Covenant Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and Elites. Leo doubted that the Guta had survived its injuries, or if it had that it was still alive. The forest it had retreated into was likely glass by now. Still, it would do him no good to remember things such as that from the past. Slowly walking out from his cover Leo held the knife in front of him, thumb pressed on the bottom of the hilt, blade pointing outwards.

He expected something small, but not what was seemingly staring at him. Standing on the railing before him was another indigenous resident of Reach. A Greater Archaeopteryx, a birdlike reptilian, the creature was a rare species native to nearly every continent on Reach. The fact that this creature had managed to stay alive for so long was impressive to say the least.

This particular specimen had red and white scales that covered its two set of wings. The rest of its body was a mix red, white, black scales all in strange patterns. One pair long curved talons were scratching its eagle-like head. Fiery orange eyes locked with his visor and it stilled. The talons previously near its head returned to their perch on the railing.

Lowering its head closer to its chest, the reptile spread its wings outward revealing a set of specially evolved claws. Claws sharp enough to cut through steel at the right angles. Despite this Leo was still surprised. The creature was roughly forty-seven centimeters tall, and nearly fifteen centimeters longer than that. Leo slid his knife back into place before taking several short steps towards the Archaeopteryx.

His entire life, at least as far back as he could remember that is, he had always had some sort of connection with wild life. Even on Onyx, the few living creatures the world possessed had easily warmed up to him. Leo had no idea why he had this effect on animals, but it always brought him a sense of peace that had always been rare in his life.

"Hey little guy. How did you get here? How are you still flying the skies anyway?" He asked as his left arm came up slowly, elbow bent at a ninety degree angle. Hesitantly the flying reptile quickly leapt of and then landed on his outstretched arm. Slowly Leo lifted his opposite hand and moved it closer to the Archaeopteryx's head, the creature chirped its high-pitched whistle as his gloved fingers touched its beak lightly. "You're a lucky little thing aren't you huh?"

Beneath his helmet, hidden by its visor, a smile came to his face. This was what he needed to truly relax, to enjoy his last hours. The effect of other life that was not trying to kill them could have on human, it was a truly amazing thing. _Still_, he thought, _you have a chance at living for a few more days away from me little one. _With a lightning fast twitch of the arm, the Greater Archaeopteryx was shaken off his armored forearm. Noble Six watched as the reptile flew away in the opposite direction he intended to go.

Leo continued to follow its flight until it had passed out of sight. He briefly wondered what was the most the creature could survive. He knew the Covenant would send some ships to chase after the _Autumn, _they rarely let survivors escape without giving chase. The Spartan estimated that there were at least a hundred warships of varying size, and calculated the amount of ground a single ship could glass in an hour. Adding in the size of Reach to the lone soldier came up with a reasonable estimate.

At best it would take the Covenant two to three days in order to completely turn Reach into a dead world. At worst, only a single day. The moment he came to that realization he felt something he had not felt for many years, he felt complete and utterly useless.

At that exact moment there was nothing he could do to even give Reach a few extra minutes of life. He could not destroy a Covenant warship, protect what few civilians were left, nor even avenge his dead team in a truly fitting way. Useless. Now he could truly sympathize with those who were left behind on worlds to be glassed. Death assured, life in minutes, the will to live drained.

He felt his hands curl into fists and tighten with enough force to dent the Titanium Armor plating used on the most heavily armored human warships. There had always been something he could do, some way to bring a glimmer of hope, to remind everyone that the Covenant was not invincible. Now, there was _nothing_. Some small part of him wanted to deny the aliens the right to one more dead Super-Soldier. To end his life in a way that would certainly be less painful that what the Covenant would guarantee.

_No_. Using all his will power Leo pushed that thought away. So what if he could do nothing to defend humanity any longer? What did it matter that he was going to die. It was not like he or any of the other Spartans had any reason to live aside from defeating the alien empire. Why should he even _care_ that his body and armor would soon be glassed like the world he had fought so hard to save?

The answer was he did not care one way or the other. A Spartan was first and foremost a soldier for humanity, just like all the men and women who had died in this war. They had fought the Covenant tooth and nail for over twenty seven years, how many other races had lasted so long against the so called "chosen of the Gods"? At that moment he felt all the fear, the slight nervousness, the controlled rage, the animal instincts that illogically told him to run and live, all disappear.

His mind was clear of all such distractions, and he was truly a Spartan once more. Leo felt a his lips grow into a slight smirk. Fear held no place for him, that should be reserved for the entire Covenant. He would fight until he was overwhelmed, would force the aliens to pay dearly to end a single life.

As a Spartan-III super-soldier, as a member of Noble Team, and as a human, he would make them _fear_ attacking Earth. Leo would become their nightmare, the demon that kept them from feeling a moments rest. When their leaders would question them about their victory at Reach the Elites would hesitate for a moment, memories of the death and suffering he and the other Spartans had brought upon them rising to the surface. They would _never _forget him. Whatever word they had in their strange tongue for the Spartans would forever become tied to death, destruction, pain, and demon.

After they had killed him, and he was truly beginning to welcome that idea, without a doubt in his mind they would regret ever finding Reach.

He turned towards the ladder he had used to climb back to the MAC launcher, and slid to the bottom. The moment his feet touched the ground he was already searching for his weapons. There were plenty to choose from, the Brutes had brutally killed most of the remaining humans who had chosen to stay and guard the _Autumn_. The damned bastard apes had become his most hated member of the alien army. Barbaric, sadistic, primitive, and just as insane of the suicide Grunt units. He sincerely wished that whatever force the Covenant sent for him would have a good deal of the devils. He'd enjoy ending their lives.

Coming to a Trooper he bent down and began inspecting her kit. The lieutenant soon found a bandolier of grenades after he set the body straight. In addition he took her M6G and all her spare clips. Pocketing the ammunition in the set of pouches that rest on his chest place, Leo moved on to the next pile of bodies. He found a replacement M392 Rifle for the one a Brute Chieftain had smashed with its hammer.

By the time he was ready he had enough fire power to take on an entire hostile company. Hefting a DMR in his right hand, and a MA37 in his left, Noble Six looked around his position one last time.

So much had been sacrificed to defend this one facility. To give humanity one final chance for survival. Despite the death of his team, and his own imminent end, the lone Spartan felt some slight pride in that. Outnumbered, outgunned, outmatched, and the Covenant still weren't fast enough to stop them. _Just goes to prove_, he thought wryly, _humans are too stubborn to go down with out giving as much as we got._

With a swift nod Leo turned and faced north east. The graves of his fellow Spartans were all behind him. For a moment he could almost feel their presence one last time. Could almost hear them calling out their encouragement. Then he broke into a fast jog in the direction he had been facing, the light reflecting off his armored body.

He knew exactly where he would make his final stand. The last defensible place near Aszod, the sight of another team of Spartans last stand. He and Emile had spotted it moments before entering the ship breaking yards. Spartans never die, if only that were true. But they would be buried together, and he would honor their sacrifice as well as his own team's in his own way.

Drenching the soil in Covenant blood.

_**A226**_

Jun place his helmet on one of the many consoles in Command Room of CASTLE Base. The Doctor and her AI assistant had left to begin setting up the entire facility for OPERATION: WHITE GLOVE. The destruction of perhaps the final operational UNSC facility left on Reach. With its destruction Reach would truly be the Covenants own rock.

He took in a deep breath, inhaling the cool air that filled the installation. Jun had always wondered where he would die. Inside an ONI base with only an old lady, and her AI, as company had been one of the few possibilities he had never thought up. Still, he mused, he had hoped to add a few hundred more aliens to his body count before the end.

Pulling up a large container, the Spartan sat down and took up his new found mission. Staring at hundreds of cameras just waiting for the first of the Covenant to show up. Then he was to contact Dr. Halsey who would in turn activate the facility's destruction. The final part of the plan was to ensure the Covenant did not obtain any top level intelligence.

Despite her attitude towards him and the rest of Noble, he was not looking forward to that last bit. He had killed other humans before, Insurrectionist cells on several worlds, but killing a civilian , and one who had the total respect of Jorge at that, was not something he would ever feel anything other revulsion. Orders were orders however, and killing the one to ensure that the millions would have a bit more time was certainly an unspoken order.

With all the focus, dedication, and patience he displayed when searching for targets, Jun began to observe every little detail he could see from the dozen or so screens with him. Flipping throw the five dozen individual cameras he saw nothing aside from some of the last vestiges of normal Reach. Plants, trees, the occasional animal, the darkening sky.

What would soon become the last live part of Reach, gave him nothing but the familiar feeling of defeat. Reach would fall, the Doctor was proven correct. Suddenly he picked up something on Camera A-5/64. Bringing the image up to the main view screen he focused the view to the small movement his Spartan eyes had spotted.

A single eyebrow rose in surprise before lowering as he better focused the image. Swift, all but no movement of foliage, shapes that even his enhanced vision and mind found moving with lighting speed. He knew of only one group of life forms in the galaxy that moved like that.

A slight smile found its way to his lips. He stood up and reached for his helmet. Placing it securely over his head, Jun turned and picked up his rifle before activating a communications link.

"Doctor Halsey, I think I found something you will find most interesting."


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: THIS IS WHERE THE AU REALLY STARTS. PLEASE TELL ME HOW I DID WITH LEO'S "LAST STAND".**_

_Meeting New and Old Faces_

_**B312 **_

**Fifteen Minutes before Covenant Attack**

Broken. Separated. Divided. Murdered. These were the words that came to mind the moment Leo had finally reached his destination. The lone Spartan felt one of his fists tighten with titanium crushing force. He felt the, rapidly becoming familiar, powerful anger build up in his chest once again.

The damned aliens had not won a battle here. Had not fought a united force of Spartans. They had sent hundreds after each individual member of the team. Once separated the team had fallen one by one, unable to help their nearby teammates. The bonds of brotherhood and loyalty broken as each Spartan saw another friend die, another member of their family fall and being unable to help.

This was not a battle. It was simple murder, denying this team the right to an even fight. Eyes hidden by his visor Noble Six continued to find one dead Spartan after another. He did not know most of them, but at the same knew them all. Leo knew what each of them were, he just did not know their names. But what would it matter if he did? It would not change what they were, what kind of person they were.

Each of the fallen had been one of his fellow Spartans. Each of them had been a Spartan-III. All of them soldiers to the bone, who knew their duty. And with a grim satisfaction, he saw they did it well if the blood was any kind of sign.

Leo closed his eyes as he thought of the one Spartan he _did _know. Rosenda-314 was the Spartan whom he was standing over at the moment. The two of them had been part of the same Trainee team during their training to become Spartans. She had been his only friend at the time, that was likely because they were both from the same colony and knew each other.

Now…. Now she was dead, and he was alive. Tilting his head lower he caught site of the gleaming metal in his left hand. Six additional dog tags, one for each of the bodies he had discovered save for hers. Leo did not want to do that, he did not want to see the face of a young woman he had known since childhood. It would distract him far too much from what was about to happen.

This place, this barren place, this graveyard for Spartans, would soon have a new addition to its total. Leo had made his decision the moment the _Pillar of Autumn_ had left the world. This was where he would fight the Covenant one last time. Where the ground would be colored in the blood of the many different species that would die here soon.

Where he would join his fellow Spartans at last.

Lifting the hand carrying the tags up towards the sky, he took careful note of them all. The way the light reflected off of them, the way they sounded grazing each other because of the slight pick up in wind. He rubbed his thumb over them in deep thought.

He felt nothing. He was nothing. He was already dead, his body just had not caught up with the rest of him. Once again he slipped more tags into the hidden compartment on his chest. They joined the tags from Noble Team, and his own. Briefly he wondered if he should have done something other than carry the tags with him.

Shaking the train of thought away he turned his attention towards his position. Several small and damaged buildings filled the otherwise empty terrain, along with a single damaged tower. It was small, but not enough to restrict his movements. It was open, but not enough he could not find a place to take cover.

It was as good a place as any to fight his final battle he supposed. Looking at the weapon in his hand Leo shifted his feet. In the previous half hour he had placed most of his weapons in hidden locations. All he carried at the moment was his Designated Marksman Rifle, his M6G, and a pair of fragmentation grenades. The other Spartans had left him some additional supplies.

A fully loaded rocket launcher with two additional rockets. A Laser with 80% charge. Two mounted machine gun turrets which he had already repositioned. A sniper rifle, several MA37 assault rifles. All in all, it was enough help that he knew he could do some serious damage to the bastard aliens when they found him.

Walking up to the tower Leo felt everything change about him. He was no longer afraid, nor ashamed. He walked with a total certainty in the eventuality of the coming battle. He almost felt happy. No, it wasn't happiness he felt at the present moment. It was a feeling of pride, and relief. He had done his duty to humanity to the best of his abilities. He had fought beside the bravest and most courageous individuals in the entire UNSC.

This battle was for them. Not for humanity, not for the fallen Reach, not for some oath. It was to honor his fallen team, his new family that had been taken from him one by one. The Covenant were going to pay with blood. That was the obvious point. Just as he knew Earth's best chance for survival rested with the _Autumn_, he knew he had helped that along. He was responsible for whatever happened in the war from this point on. He and Noble Team.

It was just a damned shame that no one would remember them. Not even the public was aware of their existence, the Spartan-II's were the public defense of humanity. Yet even they were unaware that they were not alone in their struggle against the genocidal alien empire that called itself the Covenant. The few troopers and marines they had fought beside on this world were certainly dead by now.

The only people in the galaxy that knew about them did not care what happened, so long as Earth was safe. Except for two very important individuals. Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez. The two men who together had made each of them Spartans. They who gave them a purpose, something to strive for.

He closed his eyes as he thought of them for a moment. The two men took each Spartan death personally, and there had been many, many dead Spartans. Leo mentally apologized to the Lieutenant Commander for causing him just a little bit more pain. The man deserved to know his trainees had done well, had fought like Spartans. He would know that they had done the impossible time and time again.

"The short definition of a Spartan," as Chief Mendez had once said.

Leo rather liked living up that definition. But he knew there would be no way to do so now. The impossible was to survive this glassing. That was impossible, not just because he could not escape but also something more. Spartan-B312 did not want to escape. He wanted to die.

The deaths of Noble had hit him harder and harder. For nearly all of his time as a Spartan, Leo had worked alone. The moment they had started to put their trust in him had inadvertently changed him. For the better of course, but also opened him up to unbelievable pain. He knew that this was why he did not work with other teams before.

But he was in no way disappointed. If fate had given him the opinion to go back, and never come to Reach Leo knew exactly what he would have done. He would have gone to Reach in a heartbeat, would have chosen to be a Noble without a second thought. This world, this team, they had been good to him. They had given him the chance to become a real Spartan, and he would willingly accept any punishment just to go through it all again.

He took pride in that knowledge. So lost in his thought he failed to notice the first Spirit and Phantom class drop ships arrive until one had flown directly over him. Holding his rifle by center, Spartan-B312, Noble Six, _Leo_, prepared to give the aliens a living hell and to die.

_**A226 **_

Jun walked with the doctor, surprised with the sudden change in the older woman's demeanor. She had changed from a woman feeling her years begin to catch up with her, to someone half her age. She was all but jogging, moving fast enough that Jun was having to walk just a little bit faster than normal. She even seemed almost bearable to him.

And she wasn't brining the AI with them. That was the best damned bit of news he'd heard all day. Noble Three felt incredibly thankful for the surprise visit. And from her own words, Doctor Halsey was pleasantly surprised as well. As they neared the hidden entrance to CASTLE Base, Jun picked up a strange sound over the facility's secure radio frequency.

It was a short six note whistle that sounded a bit feminine. The doctor then whistled a similar tone, only slightly longer than the first. Tilting his head to her in curiosity he watched as she allowed the new arrivals in. Jun stayed to the side of the entrance, not wanting to surprise the team of Spartan-II's at the moment. Their armor was different from the privatized MJOLNIR variants used by Noble Team. It was more uniformed with no distinguishing features, and all possessed a dull green color.

The five walked differently from the Spartans he had seen on previous occasions. They almost seemed broken, their decades of discipline the only thing that appeared to be holding them together. It occurred to Jun that the famed Spartan-II's must have also been on Reach. Which meant that a majority of their teammates had fallen to a similar fate as the rest of Noble Team.

Noble Three decided to wait for the doctor to decide to introduce him. These were not the same Spartans as Noble Team. The Doctor herself had not even known of Noble Team until their appearance at ONI Sword Base, thus it stood to reason that the entire Spartan-II class did not as well. Hidden behind his helmet, Jun let out an almost inaudible snort. The next few days would certainly become very interesting now.

"Fred, Kelly, Will, Vinh, Isaac. Its good to see you are each still alive." The doctor said to the Super-Soldiers. _So, _thought Jun, _I did hear a woman. Wonder if she'll be like Kat. Doubt it though._

"Good to see you as well Doctor Halsey. Have you heard from any other survivors?" One asked, this one he assumed was Fred as he was the first whose name Halsey had called, and the first to speak. The Doctor shook her head sadly.

"I haven't heard from any of the other Spartan-II's. I am so sorry." Clearly this woman had the same type of relationship with these Spartans as she did with Jorge. Her tone was almost motherly.

"Understood Ma'am. What about John, Linda, and James? Did the _Autumn _manage to get them out of system?" Fred asked.

"I do no know about Linda and James, but I do know for a fact that Captain Keyes and his ship did manage to escape with John." Before Fred or Kelly could say another word, Doctor Halsey raised her hand in his direction. "However, we are not alone in this facility. Noble Three, please come join us."

With a quiet sigh Jun complied. As he came into view of the other Spartans, the sniper could see the almost invisible fraction of movement that showed them tense up. With a small wave of the hand he stopped standing directly to the right of the Doctor.

"Warrant Officer Jun A226, call sign Noble Three. Glad to see I am not the only Spartan left on Reach for sure." Briefly he wondered about the other three members of Noble. Regardless of their status he needed to be focused on the here and now. Which unfortunately meant dealing with five Spartans with years more experience than him, each of whom he outranked, five men and women at least a decade older, and who knew nothing about him.

Nothing easy ever happened to a member of Noble Team.

Not to his great surprise, the Spartans each snapped to attention at the mention of his rank. Another difference he found between them and Noble, they were more formal than Noble had ever been. Carter's command of the team was strict, and they did follow the chain of command, but outside of a battlefield the team had always acted more relaxed and informal. He missed that greatly. After a few seconds he reached up and removed his helmet, the cold air tickling his bald head.

"Warrant Officer, meet my Spartan-II's. Fred-104, Kelly-087, William-043, Vinh-030, and Isaac-039." The doctor said, gesturing to each individual when she announced their name. How the hell could she tell with their armor on, no distinguishing features at all, and no IFF tags? Jun let the thought die down. These weren't his brothers and sisters.

_**B312**_

**One Hour after Covenant Attack**

Leo swung the detached heavy machine gun around him, landing a powerful blow to an Elite Ultra. The moment the Elite fell to the ground he had his armored foot on its back holding it down, then he let loose with the machineguns firepower. The rounds tore through the warrior's armor killing it instantly.

Stepping away from his most recent kill the Spartan continued to empty the weapon on even more of the aliens. Rounds severed arms, and heads from their inhuman owners, dozens of pained screams reached his ears. The lieutenant had no idea how long he had been fighting. Was it minutes, or hours? He could not tell, and it didn't matter at all to him.

The only thing that mattered was the sheer number of hostiles that continued to come at him. He had lost count as to how many of the Covenant's troops he had killed. He knew it was in the dozens for certain, the fact that whole piles of their troops lay slumped together proved that.

As his current weapon was finally emptied, Leo dodged an energy sword strike from another member of the warrior aliens. Bringing the empty weapons barrel to strike his latest attacker in the head, he pulled out his M6G. The moment Leo made contact with alien's face he dropped the machine gun and fired a round into its open maw.

Turning to face a small group of Grunts he saw they were near one of the fuel tanks. He fired at the nearest of the little aliens to slow them down. As they were distracted by their falling comrade he then aimed at the fuel tank. Unloading two additional rounds into it, causing an explosion which spread over the half dozen remaining aliens.

Barely avoiding a salvo of plasma bolts Leo broke into a dead sprint towards the nearest cover. Rolling behind the crumbling wall he waited for his shields to recharge. Releasing the empty magazine of his sidearm Leo swapped it with his last full one. Resting his head on the wall the Spartan took several deep breaths. He felt the burning in his right shoulder, thanks to a plasma bolt that had melted through his armor. Luckily it was not overly charged, and as such did little permanent damage to the Spartan.

If he waited four or five days, the signs of the injury would have disappeared. He just did not have anything more than hours at most.

Shaking off the pain Leo re-holstered the M6G, and picked up an MA37 and a nearly empty rocket launcher. He saw a phantom drop-ship nearing his position, and broke from his cover. As its cannon locked on, the Spartan was already aiming his own weapon. Jumping over a pile of dead Skirmisher, the plasma cannon missing by inches, he fired his last rocket at the Phantom's only vulnerable spot.

The open gravity lift, which was currently off loading troops, soon came into contact with the powerful human device. The explosion killed the troops half way off the Phantom, and set off secondary explosions which crippled it. Leo did not watch as it crashed into a squad of Spec-Ops Elites and their Grunts, instead running to his left the assault rifle already in his hands.

He fired short bursts from the weapon mowing down Grunts and Jackals. Reaching for one of his last grenades Leo tossed it at the feet of a Zealot charging him. Unloading the rest of the clip at the Covenant leader the moment the grenade detonated, he saw it fall to the ground dead. Leo jumped into the burning remains of a destroyed Spirit needles, and plasma impacting the hull. Taking a position at an exposed opening the lone Spartan fired at the hostiles in between their weapon discharges.

As he ducked his head out of cover to return fire, a stray plasma shot struck his visor forcing his head back. Temporarily dazed he stayed on the floor, shaking his head to clear his vision. Once it had returned he noticed two separate cracks had formed. Deciding it was time to move, Leo jumped out of his temporary cover once again. Spraying rounds at a trio of Elites, he pulled his combat knife the moment one's shield had disappeared.

Lowering his head down he tackled it, taking the brunt of the contact on his shoulder pauldron. As he planned it caught him as its feet dug into the ground, preventing it from falling over. Breaking off its hold on him Leo twisted it to face the other Elites, using it as a shield to stop their plasma fire. Pulling off one of the dying warrior's grenades the Spartan kicked it towards its fellow Elites, but not before he had activated and thrown the plasma grenade.

The single grenade combined with the other grenades, producing an even large kill area. The trio of Elites were dead the moment he dropped his then empty MA37. He turned behind him just as an Ultra's leg connected with his torso, denting the armor and forcing him to the ground. As its weigh fell upon him, the Spartan gripped the aliens right hand which held an energy sword. Weakened as he was, the weapon came closer and closer to his head.

Seeing the amount of weight his opponent was forcing on him, Leo suddenly let the blade come to within an inch of him. The Ultra's surprise allowed him to draw his combat knife, and imbed it in the silver armored warrior's eye. Pulling back from him in pain, the Ultra dropped its sword. Seizing it in mid-air Noble Six plunged into its former wielder's chest, and pulled down opening up its rib cage to view.

Leo quickly kicked the dying Elite away from him and rolling to the right as a burst of plasma fire cut across his former position, and then threw the weapon with precision aim into the cockpit of a banshee causing it to crash into its wing man. Pushing himself off the ground he removed his damaged helmet and threw it with bone breaking force towards a suicidal Grunt, snapping its neck. The two grenades the diminutive creature had been holding flew back and stuck a pair of Minor Elites who howled before they were the grenades detonated.

Looking around quickly he saw that the Covenant aircraft had flown over his position, and would not be coming around for another run until several minutes. Turning his head forward he caught sight of another sword wielding Ultra, and a final MA37. Preparing to make his last seconds count, Noble Six jumped for the rifle rolling forward so it was pointed at the Elite.

He fired several rounds into it, destroying its shields and punctured its throat. Its life blood pumping out, the warrior fell to the ground. His instincts kicked in and he found himself ducking under yet another sword, this time so close he felt the back of his skull begin to burn slightly. Bringing his elbow into its chest he forced it back a step then turned and rammed his shoulder into its face. Pulling out his M6G Leo fired a round into the gold armored General's head.

Suddenly he was struck by several plasma bolts which only grazed his armor, and two that made contact with his forearm and the opposite shoulder. Through gritted teeth he let out a roar of pain as he brought his rifle and sidearm to bear. He saw several more Elites surround him, and he began to fire. His mind began to show him older memories from his past, as he was overwhelmed and knocked to the ground.

_My home planet being glassed in front of me. _Leo kicked off an Ultra, and watched as it dropped its sword.

_The Commander inducting me and the rest of Beta Company into the Spartans. _A Zealot tried to take his head off, but he backhanded it and watched it land on the ground.

_Jorge pushing me off the Corvette, Noble Team firing at the Elite sniper that shot Kat. _The Spartan pulled out a smaller knife and forced it into another Ultra's neck before punching it away.

_Carter signing out before he crashed the pelican into the scarab. Emile taking the Zealot with him after being stabbed in the back. _Leo watched as the first Ultra he knocked away leapt at him. This time he was not fast enough and it held onto him. In his weakened, and pained state the lieutenant was barely able to put up a fight. The second Ultra, his knife still in its neck, joined the first in holding him down.

_He watched as his last chance for escape left without him, carrying the reason why so many had died. _The Zealot had pushed itself back up, and then activated a smaller dagger like weapon in its gauntlet. Leo struggled as much as he could as his death approached him. He stared into the Zealot's eyes and found an almost apologetic look there, likely only sorry it hadn't been able to defeat him on its own.

Suddenly he heard the crackle of a sniper rifle, and the Zealot fell to the ground with a large hole through one eye. The Ultra pair looked up as two more cracks were heard, and they to fell to the ground dead. Leo stared in shock at the bodies, before looking around for the familiar shape of Jun.

What he did find instead shocked into utter stillness for several heartbeats. The rifle now being used to hold the figure's weight, helmet on the ground, blood dripping from pale lips, breathing heavily, arm clutching the large opening in her armor now bleeding freely once again. Her head lifted up slightly and Rosenda offered him the smallest ghost of a smile, before loosing her grip on the rifle and falling forward.

In an instant Leo had covered the short distance and caught her in his arms before she struck the ground. Laying her down gently he took in her appearance. Skin ghostly pale, even for a Spartan, sweat keeping her short bangs matted to her forehead, and a large opening in her side pouring out blood. His green and gold eyes met her near lifeless blue.

"Rose, how-" She began to speak quietly, and he quickly silenced himself. Every word seemed to be a battle unto itself, each breath coming in far and between. Her voice was so quiet, he only managed to hear it due to his augmented ears.

"Shock. Some. 'Foam, stopped. Blacked. Woke up." She tried to take in another breath. Leo could not believe what was happening to the young woman under him. His friend, was dying right in front of him, her blood covering his armored knees. Regaining some control she began to speak again, slightly louder. "I saw you. Fighting, then you got surrounded. I found the sniper rifle next to me, one clip. Got up, and saved your life. Finally." She finished with a smile before she coughed even more, blood flying onto his chest.

"I still have some pain killers, let me-"

"No." She said simply, her lips curled into a frown. Rosenda lifted her right arm up slightly to make him look. He saw her TACPAD, just like Carter's, with a timer ticking down. "I hacked into the last Defense Platform in space. Its damaged, but its right above us. I set it up to fire on my position when I activated the timer, but I got hit before I could. Used your code Lieutenant. Chiefs like me don't get any." Gripping his hand as tightly as she could, which was far too weak to him, Rosenda looked him in the eye. He couldn't keep the connection. He put an arm around her legs, and then began to do the same with her shoulders. "Stop."

"No, we can make it. I can get you out of the blast radius." He argued with her. Then he felt a gloved hand on his cheek. He looked at her eyes once again.

"No, you can't and we both know it." Suddenly with a burst of strength that surprised him, she pulled him down and embraced him for several seconds. "Promise me, that you will find a way to get of Reach. Even if you have to hijack a Covenant warship, _get off Reach_. Please, make me this promise." Loosening her grip on him she fell to the ground, a quiet groan escaping her lips. "Please." She mouthed at him.

"I… I promise." He said as he took one of her hands in his own. Rosenda smiled once again, before motioning him closer with her other hand. When he complied she gave him a short kiss on the cheek and forced something at his chest. Once again he looked for her eyes, only to find them closed one last time. Looking at what was now in his hands he found her helmet, a final gift from his dearest friend.

Quickly he grabbed her dog tags and ripped them off her neck, as he ran from the location. Leo avoided the Covenant kill teams that continued to fire at him, dodged the Banshee strafing runs, and got out of the way of the Wraiths. All the while mentally counting down from the number on Rosenda's TACPAD.

As he neared a cliff face he heard an unbelievably loud sound hit his ears, causing a loud ringing. As he reached the edge of the cliff, the Super MAC round struck Rosenda's coordinates. The shockwave reached him and launched him off the ground. As his body continued to roll the down the hundreds of feet to the bottom of the cliff Leo blacked out.

**10 minutes after MAC strike**

_**A226 **_

Jun felt the ground shake beneath his feet and reached for something to steady himself. Around him the other Spartans were doing the same, save for Kelly who was holding the Doctor. As the shaking stopped Jun looked to the doctor.

"What the hell was that?" He asked. Surprising the doctor nodded and walked towards the nearest computer. Fingers moving with speed and precision he had never seen outside of the Spartans, the Doctor pulled up an image on the largest screen in the Command Room.

"It seems that one of the Orbital Defense Platforms fired at MAC at a position on the other side of the continent. Strange, it wasn't ordered by any UNSC commander. In fact I don't recognize this access code." An idea came to Jun as he thought more about what the doctor had said. A smile came to his lips as he walked towards the computer to confirm his suspicions.

"Doctor, please let me see." Moving out of the way the doctor allowed him to scan the information. The access code immediately caught his attention. "I can't believe it. I knew he was crazy, but this is unbelievable! You better still be fighting out there Six, I refuse to accept you'd let yourself be put in that situation."

"Warrant Officer. Explain." The doctor ordered calmly. Jun turned to face her.

"That code doctor. It was the Lieutenant's. He hacked the platform, and called a strike down on his position. He seems to have killed himself and hopefully several hundred Covenant troops."

He hoped he was wrong about what seemed to have happened to six. If he wasn't then…He was now the last of Noble Team. He felt sick to his stomach.

_**B312**_

**Two Hours after MAC strike**

Leo slid down the slope as quickly as he could, rocks and dust flying in the air, landing on his feet. However due to his momentum, injuries, and sheer exhaustion the Spartan-III failed to stop his body from falling forward. Despite all their augmentations, their training, the technology behind their armor, and their sheer will the Spartans were still human. And even they, Super-Soldiers that they were, also had their breaking points.

Breathing heavily and through gritted teeth, Leo pushed himself off of the rocky ground and onto his back. Removing the helmet Rosenda had given him the Spartan took several deep breaths, exhaling each slowly to avoid further injury from his multiple broken ribs. The last thing he needed was for one of the puncture a lung, of all the things that could happen that was not the way Leo wanted to go out.

He'd awoken just under an hour ago, nearly night and had started heading in the direction of CASTLE Base. Most of it was downhill, and as proven by his recent fall down the slope, he was exhausted.

_God, _he thought ruefully, _If you're real then what the hell makes me so special you refuse to let me die, and simply cause as much pain as possible? _Blinking his eyes quickly Leo began to feel some of the pain drifting away. His bones had yet to fully recover from his crash landing after Jorge had launched him out of the Corvette, and the new broken bones were not helping him. With a dark chuckle Leo imagined all the bones in his body as having been cracked multiple times in the past month.

Unfortunately, they probably were damaged in some way or another.

Leo put one hand inside the his new Commando helmet. The piece of equipment was of the same model as Carter's. Forgetting all feeling of pain, he reached with the fingers on his other hand towards the black visor. He was still alive, he had survived his attempted 'last stand.' A part of him was enraged at Rosenda for saving his life, at the expense of her own. It was another Spartan dying to save his own skin.

His eyes narrowing at the thought Six let out a quiet growl from his throat. Leo _wanted _to die. It was that simple the Spartan realized, he _never _wanted anyone die to save his life. Carter had sacrificed himself for the mission, and Jorge had done the same because he had believed it should be him who would save his home world. But now there was no reason to do that, no reason for the seventeen year old Spartan girl to kill herself.

Throwing the helmet at the nearest rock Noble Six felt his anger flare. She had been the closest thing he had to a _sister_, to _family_. If anyone should have sacrificed themselves for the other it should have been _him_! Then, like a Spartan he regained control of his emotions and saw the logic behind his oldest friend's end. She was dying, there was no way to stop that. But she could have saved him, and so she had.

But why did she have to call him _brother_. The shame that he had been unable to protect her hung over his head, threatening to send him into another mindless rage. Why did she have to hold on to him, begging him to promise he'd find a way off Reach? Suddenly the rage turned to uncontrolled sadness. Leo let the tears through his eyes, not even trying to stop them.

After having reined in some control Leo pushed himself off the rocky ground he had been grieving on. Making his way towards the helmet he thrown the Noble stared at the visor and saw his reflection. Hair shortened to almost Carter's length, bruises on his right cheek bone, tear stains, and lastly a defeated look in his eyes. He felt disgusted with himself.

Bending down Leo picked up the helmet, its black visor barely showing anything behind it. It was just like Carter's, just like his leader. Effective, easy to maintain, with multiple attachments to better command. The lieutenant felt unworthy of the piece of equipment, its green painted metal heavy in his hand. But he had promised Rosenda he would survive as long as possible, and get off Reach. The young woman had utterly no doubt in her mind that he would be able to do it. He did not share her certainty, but he would give it his all just like he always did.

Spinning the helmet around, the Spartan tilted it forward so that the inside stared back at him. With a sense of renewed purpose he moved the helmet closer to him. Sliding it down his head Noble Six felt the familiar feel of a fully equipped set of armor. His shields recharged now that the helmet was fixed to the rest of the suit, the sound easing the slight tension he felt in his stance.

It was at that point that he heard a sound that nearly stopped his heart with shock. _It couldn't be, there can't be any-_his thoughts were halted as the scream of a child sounded again. Snapping out of his momentary shock Leo focused on shrill cry for help. Turning in the direction it was coming from the Spartan-III ran as fast as he was able.

Running in between the dying trees he heard the child's voice growing louder. He also hear a familiar roar that sent chills down his spine. It was just his luck that a Guta would have somehow survived as well. Running up a hill he jumped over the crest and rolled down until he stopped the moment he saw it.

Large. At least twice his height, and at least three times his weight in his armor. Gray skin covered in scars and fresh burns. The hilt of an energy sword imbedded in its neck, a large scar on its right foreleg. Two seven foot long tusks. Instantly Leo realized exactly what he was up against.

The Guta from several weeks ago. With a sinking feeling, Leo realized it had somehow survived its injuries and made its way into this forest. His thoughts on the how, and why, were silenced the moment the beast let out a roar and charged him. With surprising speed it closed the distance between them. Leo had barely managed to avoid being trampled only to be struck by its left tusk.

The blow lifted him several feet into the air and nearly three dozen meters away. Using his newfound momentum the Spartan twisted himself so that he landed on the balls of his feet, the shock transferring up the rest of his body. His injured body protesting from the renewed strain Leo knew he was in trouble.

His mind and body were reacting much slower than they should have. This was a mindless beast operating on instinct. He'd destroyed ships, heavy vehicles, hundreds of enemies were killed by him. All of them had been harder than fighting something like the Guta.

So why did he come running into this fight with no plan? With no weapons whatsoever aside from his M6G with only half a magazine left. The answer was he was nearly broken, physically and mentally at that point. He knew it, and he half wondered if the beast did as well. Leo decided to go for it head on, he didn't have the firepower to take it out and if it came to a battle of endurance, well he was barely standing as it was.

The fact that the Guta only needed to hit him once head on did not make him feel anywhere near at ease. The Spartan-III locked eyes with his freakishly large foe, he saw a primal survival instinct behind its eyes. How ironic that two non-covenant life forms were about to kill one another because they both wanted to survive.

Suddenly they both made their move at the same time. The giant of steel, and the giant of flesh closing in on one another with lethal intent. As the Guta attempted to gouge him with its sharp tusks, Leo threw himself to the side. Grabbing onto the tusk that barely missed him by a foot the lieutenant held it tightly. As the beast began to try and shake him off it threw its head in the air.

Lifting him up rapidly would prove to be the end of their battle. The moment he had reached the maximum height he could hold onto, Leo swung himself on to the Guta's neck. Grabbing on to the energy sword he pulled as quickly as he could, praying the weapon still had some charge.

As he pulled the weapon out, the Guta had finally thrown him off. Landing on the ground hard, Leo rolled to avoid the heavy feet that had nearly trampled him. Activating the energy sword quickly he slashed at the nearest leg. The creature let out a cry of pain and pulled back momentarily. Taking advantage Leo slashed at its opposing hind leg, further paining the beast. Finally as it turned to face him he ran at it.

Sluggishly the freak of nature once again attempted swipe at him with its massive tusks. Once again it missed, though this he jumped onto its back and plunged the blade directly above where its brain was located. With a loud crashing sound, and a slight shaking, the beast fell dead.

After killing the creature Leo allowed himself to fall to the ground, landing on his right foot and turning it into a roll. He came face to face with the tiny child. Her dark hair contrasted heavily with her snow white pale skin. Her brown eyes held a mix of fear and awe, along with relief. After several seconds Noble Six fully kneeled before the little girl.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he kept his gaze locked on her small eyes. The little girl suddenly developed a change in appearance. The fear she showed replaced by an angelic smile as she ran to him. She wrapped her small arms around his neck, burying her face in his armored chest.

"Thank you mister! You saved me!" Surprised by the child's reaction Leo was stunned into stillness. Never, not once had he been treated with such a strange reaction. Certainly he'd seen parents do the same to their children, lover to their partners. The closest had been Rosenda's final embrace, but that was her saying goodbye to him. This…. This was new. So it was a strange disappointment that filled him when the little girl pulled away.

"Um. Your welcome?" He said almost sheepishly. Something to do with his reply brought a giggle from the child.

"Are you a knight?" Now _that_ was something he had never been called before. He'd heard hero, super human, freak, mistake, but never _knight_.

"Sorry to disappoint little one, but I am no knight. Spartan B312 at your service." He said formally with a curt nod. He felt as though he had made a mistake when the girl's smile disappeared.

"That's not a name." She said it as though it was the most important thing in the world.

"No, its not I suppose." The girl opened her mouth but was cut off by a shout.

"Rozsa! There you are!" Leo turned his head in the direction of the voice, an odd feeling of recollection in his mind. Which was soon replaced by shock as the young woman Jorge had talked to at the Visegrad Relay facility. The young woman also stopped upon seeing him. Her face changing from relief to one of disbelief.

"You!" She said with hesitation and barely hidden anger in her quiet voice.

"Yes. You're the girl Jorge talked to."


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: To make better sense of the flow of time, I will be taking the liberty of altering a certain part of the Fall of Reach. The moment the Spartan-II's find Dr. Halsey. In the novel First Strike, they arrive at 0810 hours, or 8:10 am. I will be forwarding that by about As Six's Last Stand in Reach is 12 hours later than that, so will the meeting. Therefore the beginning of this chapter is 0027 hours, or 12:27 am. Night time readers, and as for that at the end of the chapter I will tell you the time table for the next chapter in order to better understand the flow of time. Also, I recently came into the possession of First Strike, but as to not copy the entire plot and just throw in Leo and Jun, some things will change. Just a few minor details, locations of characters, and maybe how some die, maybe a change in weapon functions._

_Admiral on the Deck!_

**B312 **

**Sixteen Hours since Covenant Begin Glassing**

Spartan-B312 continued to stare at the young woman, who equally stared at him. He did not need to have to deal with this, Leo was tired, injured, and barely able to move through the pain. What the Spartan needed was at least a few hours rest to catch his breath so to speak. The fact that now two civilians were with him severely complicated things.

Mentally he was cursing whatever God existed for having a grudge against him. How else could this be explained? Clearing his throat Leo prepared to speak, just as he felt something hit his visor. Glancing he saw a thin watery line, barely visible to even his own eyes. This line was soon followed by another, and soon yet another.

Yes. This proved it, the Almighty must have some sort of grudge with him. Maybe it was that he had never been very religious even as a child, before being taken into the SPARTAN-III Program. He remembered a church, and a very boring, and very fat priest. Wouldn't that be something against one of the Seven-

And what was he thinking? Shaking his head Leo was more certain than ever that he need a real nights sleep, or the nearest he could get. He could not operate like a Spartan if his mind was so weary that it wasn't even thinking about his situation. Taking a step towards Sara, Leo decided to follow Jorge's example towards dealing with the girl.

This was where his time spent outside his armor showed its worth. Outside it Leo looked like a normal twenty four year old. He had trained himself to appear normal for his unarmored black-ops missions. Because of this, he knew the shock that came over her face was due in no small part due to his expression.

Leo knew his lips were turned into a nervous smile, knew his eyes showed a sympathetic understanding, and his face was certainly not the stony emotionless face that other Spartans carried with them. No it was without a doubt a face that obviously showed his weariness.

"Miss. Sorvad, I would like to continue this conversation, but not here. Its too open, its getting darker, and its about to start raining. Do you have a shelter nearby?" He asked. While he would have cheerfully dug a foxhole and slept in that instead he could leave the two girls alone. Especially one who couldn't have been more than eight or nine.

"Mister Spartan, the thingy that you stopped," Rozsa said pointing with her left hand at the Guta, "I saw its cave. I was trying to find someplace where I could take a nap, an then it woke up. I can show you, I think." The child smiled warmly at him, happy to see his face. Strange, the few whom had seen him outside of his armored skin had looked at him with shock written over their faces. Rozsa on the other hand looked like she'd just won some sort of contest.

Something about that smile seemed infectious, and Leo tried to give the young child his warmest possible smile. She visibly beamed at the response to her suggestion. Turning back to Sara, silently asked her to agree. Thankfully she merely sighed deeply before nodding her head slowly, refusing to meet his eyes. That was fine by him, there was something about the scientist's daughter that made him feel something akin to nervousness. However being a Spartan, he ensured that the feeling was non-existent in his facial expression.

"All right then." He said turning to look back at Rozsa he extended his hand in as friendly a way as he could. "Lead on ma'am." Leo said in as professional manner as he could. The raven-haired girl smiled at being referred to in such a way, and eagerly grasped his large hand between one of her own. Her small and fragile hand could not wrap itself even halfway over his own.

"Its this way, c'mon Mister Spartan, Sara. Its looked real big, but I think that thing does have to live in a real big place. Its huge!" As he listened to the child continue to talk Leo placed the helmet back over his head. Rozsa stopped talking as she saw him cover his face. "Why you do that Mister? I cant see your face anymore." The girl pouted at him, but still continued to walk.

"Procedure, all SPARTANS are under orders to keep their helmets on at all times while in a combat zone." He replied immediately.

"Combat Zone?" Rozsa asked innocently. The lieutenant stared at her for a split-second in shock before remembering her age. He would have answer what questions he could in a very simple manner. For a lifetime soldier such as he, that seemed very strange. _But then again, _he thought, _she is just a child. Never really dealt with one of those before. I could really use Jorge right now_. He thought sorrowfully. Somehow the little girl seemed to sense his change in mood. "Whats wrong Mister?"

"Just thinking of a friend. And a combat zone is where a lot of bad things happen. Wherever the Covenant is, just as an example, a combat zone." He asked, all the while looking in all directions for signs of the aforementioned alien alliance. He noticed that Sara seemed to be heading in a different direction. "Miss Sorvad, may I ask where you are going?" The woman continued on with little reaction to show she had heard. Her response showed otherwise.

"Rozsa and I had a small campsite not far from here. We had medical supplies, food, water, and a radio." Still not looking back at him she raised her hand and waved side to side. "I followed Rozsa to the cave before the Guta attacked, I'll meet up with you there. And Spartan," she said finally looking over her shoulder at him, "you better protect Rozsa, understand."

Leo nodded before turning to Rozsa once again. He motioned with a slight movement of his chin to keep leading him. How strange that was, a lieutenant in the UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command being led by a civilian girl too young to be seeing what was happening to her home. The Noble wondered briefly if she understood their situation, that there was no assistance from Earth coming to rescue them. That they were alone behind what was now enemy controlled space. That there was no real chance for survival.

_**Stop that! **_He commanded his thoughts,___You promised you would find a way off this world, and you will keep it.___Looking back at the child, couldn't help the small smile, _Doubly so now Spartan._ Noticing that she seemed to be walking slower the Spartan took note of her rapidly blinking eyes. The raven haired girl must have been exhausted, he remembered his first days of training and he wasn't much younger than her. He recalled that young children tired quickly.

Deciding that she had been through enough for the day, the Spartan stopped walking behind her. She took two more steps before noticing that weight behind her was not following. When he released her hand she quickly turned around, only to be caught and lifted into his arms. The child released a squeak of surprise before looking into the black visor.

"You looked tired." He answered her unspoken question just as he resumed walking. "Try and stay awake just a little longer, I need you to point out where I have to go. Wouldn't want to get lost out here would we?" Rozsa nodded her head slowly before attempting to stifle a yawn. Still she did not fall asleep until she had finished giving directions to him, and as he noticed the outline of the Guta's cave he heard a quiet and steady snoring coming from his arms.

Without his realizing it Leo had raised his arms up slightly. Sometime after doing that Rozsa had wrapped her small arms around his neck, laid her head under his armored helmet, and fallen to sleep. As he entered the dark and large mouth of the cave Leo stopped. The smell from the inside of was making its way through his suit's air filters. With a snort of disgust he continued on into the warm and relatively safe cave.

The Covenant was not glassing this part of Reach for some reason, or at least not yet. That meant that his assumption about CASTLE Base was more than likely correct. Which would also meant that the enemy would have any ground troops they did send patrolling a perimeter near CASTLE Base's location. After setting Rozsa down gently on a piece of ground that had none of the Guta's excrements, he looked down at the TACPAD he had liberated from Rosenda.

Tapping his fingers gently, yet precisely he pulled up a holographic map of the continent. He located the position of CASTLE, and then found his own coordinates. He was a good three days away on foot, and that was if he intended to continue on at the pace that Rozsa and Sara would set. As he would not leave them behind, three days would be the time. Upon further study he managed to locate several large heat signature concentrations. _Tens of thousands _of heat signatures.

_Just another day being a Noble_. Shaking his head in amusement Leo determined that he was more or less, two and a half days from the Covenant excavation forces. Assuming that the Elites had similar beliefs on maintaining an effective patrol, they should have some forces at least half a days march from the main position. So at least two days before he would encounter the next Covenant forces.

He was adequately satisfied with that. It would give him time to rest up, heal his injuries, and get back to the combat mentality that he had before being a member of Noble Team. Until he confirmed Jun's survival, Leo was alone and would be going Lone Wolf for the time being. Despite it being only a little over a month since his joining of Noble, he had surprising fit in well into team operations, _too _well he supposed considering they were all dead.

Wincing slightly, Leo decided he would remove his helmet. With confirmation that he was not in danger of having his throat slit by a Stealth Elite he felt that he could relax somewhat. Searching for a large rock formation he would begin to check the condition of his armor, and the severity of his dozens of injuries.

Even now he could feel the pain, and it barely allowed him to function clearly even for the Spartan he was. Leo assumed that the state his body was in would be painful to the point of crippling for any other marine, and likely most of the ODSTs. Glancing left and right his eyes soon rested on a stalactite that was about a head shorter than he was in armor, and just as wide across. After setting his helmet on the top, he decided to chance a fire.

The direction of the cave was in the direction of the MAC strike programmed by Rosenda. In addition to that, miles away he could just about make out the tell tall tale of smoke that signified a forest fire. Any Covenant forces that glanced in the direction of the cave would see it mixed in with the flames of the larger fires. All in all he was in a safe enough position to utilize the flame. Or rather _they_ were.

Glancing over his still armored shoulder, Leo rested his eyes on the young child quietly sleeping as though everything else was as normal as could be. As though the threat of death wasn't constantly looming over them, that if the Covenant found them they would killed in the most painful ways possible. Once again he stopped himself from continuing such thoughts. _Must have spent a bit too much time with Emile. Dying a painful way is _almost _beginning to sound normal. Have to stop that, like it or not its not just me again. _

_**A226**_

**Seventeen and a half hours since Covenant Begin Glassing**

Jun disassembled his prized Sniper Rifle System 99 Anti-Material, and then pulled out a piece of cloth from one of his packs. After setting each of the individual parts on a sterile, and cleared evident by the sparking computers on the floor near it, he began to clean his tool of destruction. One by one he began to inspect each part for any sign of damage, then he slowly and deliberately moved the cloth over his weapons skeleton.

All the while he could feel the stares the Spartan-II's were giving him, despite the fact that only he had chosen to remove his helmet. All of Noble Team had lightly tanned skin from their time spent in the field without their helmets, judging from the way the other Spartans acted he assumed they rarely or never did as such.

Which would translate to seeing an unknown Spartan soldier, one with an officer's rank, who removed his helmet for no real reason, and whom was lightly tanned, as strange at best. Suspicious at worst. However that did not meant he thought they would leave him to die, he was human and he was a Spartan. No other human could utilize MJOLNIR armor, and that meant one part of his story was unquestionably true.

Curiously the only two that really stared seemed to be Isaac and Kelly. Vinh seemed to be indifferent to his existence, a Spartan was a Spartan he assumed was her mindset. He had memorized the slight differences in the damage each of their armors had, and was now able to tell apart Halsey's Spartans. Yes, he mused to himself, that was what they were. Yet another difference between him and this team, this family. They saw Dr. Halsey as an equal, and he assumed they would rather act on her orders than even Lord Terrence Hood's own.

He and the rest of Noble Team were Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose's Spartans, they were the ones deemed _disposable_. Oh how he loathed that word with every fiber of his being. A Spartan was a Spartan, none of them were disposable each of them were worth a great deal. And yet, despite the rest of Noble Team's long list of accomplishments, they were continuously being sent on suicidal missions. _Still,_ he thought as a grim smirk was formed on his face, _they were missions deemed to dangerous for even a small number of Spartan-II's. That is something I suppose. _

Sighing he closed his eyes. Regardless of their status one fact remained the same, he truly doubted that he and Six would truly fit in with them. He assumed that at least Six may be alive, if the other members of Noble Team had survived with him then it would have been Carter's access code, not the Lieutenants. The two class of Spartan perhaps would reach some form of a working relationship that was certain, but not the same camaraderie as they would have shared with their own Spartan brothers and sisters.

He snorted. In that regard, they were alike. The feeling of loss and sorrow that came with such a thing was almost universal. Still, he did not like being stared at. Especially when he couldn't see a person's eyes.

Suddenly he heard Doctor Halsey's voice boom over the COM, her voice carrying an undertone of fear.

"Get back to the labs ASAP, there may be a way out!" The moment the words had stopped the undeniable sound, and shaking that signaled sever structural damage reached the Spartans. Quickly with the lighting speed reflexes of a Spartan, he had reassembled his Sniper's Rifle and put the cloth back in his pack. Slipping his helmet back on as he and the Spartan-II's ran towards the lab, opened a channel to Kelly.

"The Doctor is not talking to us Spartan, head to her last known and find her." The Spartan took an extra half second to acknowledge than she should've, but then she bounded off in the Doctor's direction faster than any Spartan-III he had seen. Was that because she was a II, genetics, or a difference in the argumentations of the two projects. As he, Vinh, and Isaac rounded a turn and found their way to the Medical Lab, Fred and Will had just arrived carrying what he assumed to be new rifles, ammunition, food and water, medical supplies, and perhaps spare parts for their MJOLNIRs.

Then his eyes caught sight of the Doctor, broken nose and blood dripping supported by Kelly.

"I'm fine, just fine." She said trying to stand, only to nearly fall to the ground. Both he and Fred leapt forward and caught her before she landed. After sweeping her into his arms and handing her to Fred another powerful detonation resonated over them causing the powerfully constructed walls to crack slightly.

"Doctor Halsey, I am picking up Covenant contacts nearing this facility." Announced Kalmiya over the sound of explosions. For once Jun was actually glad the AI was here.

"Down the Elevator. Sigma Elevator Shaft, it'll lead us to a safe location." The Doctor said holding up a data pad for all to see. Jun had a feeling he knew exactly where the elevator shaft would lead. More caves.

"And let me guess. We have to blow up the place behind us so as not to let any alien freaks in, right Doctor?" Jun asked taking a step forward to pick one of the new rifles. It was similar to the DMR, but it had weaker scope. It also had a clip size double that of the Marksman's Rifle, and had a slightly longer muzzle, and upon quick inspection of the rounds fired larger bullets.

It would take some time, but he could get used to working with this model. Still, he was old fashioned, and would choose his preferred DMR if given the choice.

"Correct Noble Three." The doctor's face was turning slightly paler. Placing his long range weapon on his back, Jun switched the safety off of his new weapon and held it in his hands.

"All right. Those Satchel Charges?" He asked Fred, who then nodded. "All right then, 39, 29 take 'em. You'll be our demo team." Jun joined will and picked up several of the boxes with him as Fred gave out more orders. The doctor then spoke with Kalmiya, and activated Operation: Whiteglove. To his quiet surprise she then activated some program which erased the AI. Shaking his head as he the other Spartans began moving, he decided to question the good doctor later. When they were in immediate danger of dying.

Hurrying through they quickly engaged, and downed a team of Stealth Elites, but did not slow down. They were _so _close their means of escape, and he was damned if he allowed himself to dies so easily. He did not need to ask them to know similar thoughts were going through the other Spartans thoughts.

Finally they arrived at the empty shaft. One by one they each jumped onto the cables, and slid down its length. Following the doctors instructions they reached safety just as the most powerful roared over their heads and the ONI base they had just been in collapsed above them. After several minutes of waiting, and no additional explosions they determined that they were safe for the moment.

"Well. Anyone else guess that we would end up in underground?" Jun asked as he popped a flare and their location was filled in a green light.


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Okay, an hour after the end of the previous chapter. So the time will be so and so after CASTLE Base destroyed. Or I could just start following the books and put in the exact military time instead. What would you guys prefer for the later chapters?_

_**1 hour after CASTLE Base destruction**_

_**B312**_

Leo had just finished removing all the pieces of his upper armor when he heard a snap. His hand went to his nearly empty M6G still strapped to his right leg, while he focused in on the direction of the disturbance. He heard light footsteps, occasionally striking some object just outside the cave, and quiet words spoken in Hungarian that he assumed were curses. He slowly moved his hand from his sidearm as he turned and began walking in the direction of the small fire he had made.

Crouching down in front of the flame, he held his hands out from him and allowed its warmth to fill him. The flames licked at his open palms, lightly touching it. After several seconds he pulled back and quickly rubbed his hands together building up the heat produced by the rapid friction. After several seconds he placed his hands over the worst of his injuries. The amount of heat he felt was very pleasant, and for several moments he felt as though the injuries were not on his body at all.

Leo closed his eyes briefly, savoring the moments of utter bliss he was feeling. Such things were nearing extinction more and more as the days would pass. Shaking his head the Spartan realized he was becoming more and more fatalistic each new moment. His life was no longer his own to sacrifice in anyway, anyway save for protecting the two civilians. The Spartan Lieutenant was still crouched in front of the fire as Sara stepped into the camp, and then uttered a barely silenced curse.

"Gyerunk, miert nekem!" She said as she angrily walked beside him and dropped some of the supplies she had mentioned earlier. Quickly grasping her wrist, he forced her to look at him. Once he had her attention he motioned to the sleeping form of Rozsa with his thumb, and then placed his index finger above his lips. "Bocsanat, I did not know she was sleeping." She said quietly, and almost apologetically.

"She has not, not for long at least. She started to lose it while we were making our way here, once I had entered the cave I searched for a clean area for her to rest." Leo said equally quiet. "This place speaks volumes of the hygiene Guta's possessed."

"I can see that. This place stinks worse than the live ones." Sara replied as she began to sort out their meager supplies. Coming across a canteen she unscrewed the cap and took a small sip, before handing the entire canteen towards the lieutenant. "Drink up Spartan."

"No, you should take a little more. Save the rest for the child, I can go a few days without food or water." Leo told her before he carefully handed it back to her, careful not to spill even a single drop. This water was precious, he doubted that there would be many sources of freshwater the closer they neared the Covenant. During the day his armor temperature control system had need to cool the air inside more than usual, which meant that Reach was already starting to cook. Not much, and certainly not enough to be noticeable for at least a week. But soon it would be clear that Reach's planetary average temperature was on the rise.

_Water should start disappearing within two to three weeks, and then will either die of dehydration, or starvation. The choices._

And he was still thinking of the many ways he would likely die. Shaking his head by micrometers, he was surprised by the increasingly pessimistic attitude he seemed to have taken. He had always operated on the basis that he would always have a chance at surviving. Theoretically, he still did. He just needed to find a way to hijack a Covenant Warship, eliminate all its crew, learn to fly it by himself, work out the operations of its Slips-Space drive, and ensure he did not accidentally activate the ships self-destruct system.

Maybe he was being more optimistic, than pessimistic considering that was a much more sure way of dying. Regardless of the odds he would still do his best to survive this. After all, Rozsa still had a full life to live, and Sara had already suffered enough on Reach. They at least would have to get off planet, and Leo would make sure of that even if it killed him. They were worth that much and more from him, his own life was worthless now. Without his fellow Spartans he was already feeling such, and he had knew that he has not the soldier he had been just days before.

The losses had hit him harder that he had anticipated it would seem. Leo was not operating like a 'Hyper Lethal Vector', nor was he behaving like a Spartan. He was beginning to lose his sanity it would seem, he had nothing to live for other than getting the two civilians off world anymore. And if he did succeed, what then? Would he then attempt to kill himself in some bloody and fool hardy assault on the Covenant forces? That seemed very likely to his tired mind. As strange as it was to admit, Sara and Rozsa had quickly become his reason for an existence. Without them he had no purpose, no goal, no drive. No humanity whatsoever.

Suddenly he felt something touch one of his many injuries. Twitching slightly at the blinding flash of pain, Leo turned his gaze towards Sara and gave her his most terrifying glare. Then he quickly took note of the medical supplies strewn over a blanket next to the fire, protected by several well sized rocks separating them from the fire. Feeling his will to glare weaken the Spartan instead raised a curious eyebrow several centimeters. Lowering his eyes slightly he stared at the Reach Brunette, unwilling to break the silence.

Unwillingly he found himself taking in the state of her short brown hair, noted how it was slightly matted to her forehead by a light coating of sweat. How black eyes reflected the flame near them, and how they also seemed to be filled with more life than the first time he had met her in the Visegrad Relay nearly a month ago. She was still dressed in the same type of working clothes as she had been that day, but they were much dirtier now.

His analyzing eyes took note of the splotches of dark red over pant legs, and the tear just below the neck which revealed some cleavage. The Spartans eyes widened as he realized what he had just focused on. Mentally he berated himself for looking at the woman in such a way. That was one of several _physical _differences between the S-II's and the S-III's, Lord knew that there hundreds more that were either mental or personal.

Lieutenant Commander Ambrose had decided to alter several of the drug cocktails used on Beta Company during its Augmentations. One of which was what had all but shut down the Spartan-II's sex drives. In its place he had added a cocktail which greatly improved their overall area awareness, and focus on their surrounding. To fight the urges that would inevitably come to the aging Beta Company, the Commander had forced into their heads that any such actions would result in immediate withdrawal from the Program. Considering that becoming a Spartan had been their entire purpose at the time, it worked.

But now, Leo was a fully mature adult, and one who already had some experience in that area of human social interactions. But now was not the time to develop an attraction to the civilian, despite how well she appealed to his primal male mind. What the Hell was he thinking? _Attraction_, to _her_? Yet, he couldn't deny that was the case.

_2nd__ AN: I would like to take the time to inform my readers that I will not be posting a new chapter after this one for several days. I am going to spend my time re-reading Halo: First Strike two times so that I have a better feel for what I will be writing. That is why this chapter is by far the shortest, and will be the last. Also, yes there will be some Sara and Leo romance stuff, but not much. I have another woman in mind for my Spartan, and that's my personal secret. SO, I guess happy One Month till Halloween, I guess. Spartan Commando, giving a bitter sweet farewell from fan fiction. _

_OKAY, I HAVE FINISHED MY SECOND READING OF THE ENTIRE TIME ON REACH WE SEE IN FIRST STRIKE. I THINK I HAVE A FIRM GRASP ON HOW THE EVENTS UNFOLD, AND HOW TO PROPERLY RIGHT THEM. I WILL POST MY FIRST NEW UPDATE EITHER TOMORROW OR SATURDAY. SPARTAN COMMANDO, OUT. _


	6. Chapter 6

_A Soldier, and a Healer_

_AN: I'M BACK! THE UPDATES WILL START COMING OUT EVERY TWO DAYS UNTIL SOMETIME NEXT WEEK, I SWEAR. Also I have decided that I will change the way I write in Leo and Jun. Instead of having both of their point of views split into several parts each chapter, I will have an entire chapter told from each of their pov's. This one will be a Leo chapter, the next will be a Jun chapter. Also I will be labeling the time in military time from now on. _

_**B312 0420 HOURS**_

Spartan Lieutenant B312, or Leo was used to many things. He was used to intense pain. Used to dealing with bull headed superior officers who wanted to see the "Freak" destroyed in some suicidal assault. Used to seeing death and destruction. Used to going days without sleep or any form of respite. However there was one thing he was without a doubt, _not _used to.

It was of slightly above average height, outside of his MJOLNIR armor it reached just below shoulder level. The build was an average size frame, though with more muscle. Chestnut brown hair and similar color eyes. Features that identified the gender were easily noticeable. And he was uncertain as to whether Sara Sorvad was purposely causing him pain, or simply inexperienced as she treated some of his many injuries.

Even for a Spartan who knew exactly how to read people and their motives, he _still_ couldn't tell which it was.

The pain was bearable for a Spartan-III, it felt like the equivalent to a sharp pinch normal humans felt sometimes. Which still did not mean he _enjoyed _it, and the fact was it was entirely unnecessary. In fact the only reason he had agreed to have his injuries treated by Sara was currently sleeping into the night, unaware of what the other woman was doing to him.

Rozsa was suffering enough by simply seeing her home burn to ash. Sara had convinced him to let her treat him, but only because she did not want Rozsa to wake up and see his many wounds. Leo had quickly agreed, the girl would likely become frightful of what they meant. Of him. Strangely the thought of the little sleeping child actually shunning was something he desperately wanted to avoid.

'_The wonders of a child never cease to amaze'_, Leo vaguely remembered a Captain said to him once. It had been on a mission to Draco III to scout out a small list of children who could become candidates for Gamma Company. During the two weeks he spent observing several of the children, he found himself playing little games with them. These were not the training, and memory games the Spartan Candidates had spent playing during their time on Onyx. It was the type of play of that _normal_ children could be found doing for hours.

He remembered that day because for the first time, he wasn't a soldier. He was just a thirteen year old who was babysitting a group of little kids. And he had _fun_, just being that thirteen year old boy, he felt almost like he was always meant to be in that positions. He was quiet and reserved, but he had opened up substantially to the young children.

The Army Captain he was sent to accompany had chuckled while he sat on a bench watching him. He had told him that humans naturally wanted to protect, and have some form of connection with, the next generation. Then the man had said he felt almost sorry for the young Spartan. That statement made Leo extremely curious and, eager for any knowledge no matter the subject, he had asked what the Captain meant.

'You're a Spartan. You think you'll _ever_ have anything to do with kids, or even have your own?' That statement had bothered Leo greatly in the months that followed. He had asked himself what purpose would he have in a world where humanity was not in danger from the Covenant? Would he be able to start a family? Would he have any children, or watch them as they grew up?

Leo remembered how he always felt hollow while he was reflecting on those questions. Eventually he had managed to block those thoughts out of his mind. But now guarding the two girls, his every action followed by Rozsa who had this way of getting him to answer questions, he began to remember them. In a way, he did have something to do with a child.

He was guarding her, he cared for her, and he would willing lay down his life to protect Rozsa. He was pulled out of his thoughts Sara began to remove a small spiker round by slicing into his shoulder with a small scalpel.

"_Istenem, _can you not take care of your own body Spartan? Or do you simply not care what happens to it?" She asked him, Hungarian slipping of her tongue in a tired tone.

"I do try _not _to get injured in combat, but even the worst Grunt can get a lucky shot in if he has a few hundred friends doing the same. You can only avoid so much enemy fire before you get nailed several times." Leo responded in a near monotone voice, his default when dealing with those who he found difficult to deal with. And Sara _certainly_ fell into that group.

He felt the cold steel begin its incision just millimeters from the small Brute projectile. While he had been securing the Landing Zone for Captain Keyes' pelican he had disabled an overzealous and inexperienced Brute. Or rather, he assumed he had killed it after he had tackled it and then plunged a knife into its throat. In reality he had merely stunned it, and while he had been dealing with a pair of Jackals, the alien had come around.

When his shields failed him due to a charged plasma shot from a dying Jackal, the Brute seized its chance. Picking up a nearly empty spiker the alien aimed at Leo's back. The lieutenant had sensed something was behind him, and that instinct had saved his life yet again. Leo began to drop to the ground and avoid whatever danger had targeted him, and he had missed being nailed in the back of the head. A single spike however, had gone slightly lower than the rest and struck him in between his right shoulder blades.

After permanently ending the Brute's life Leo had broken off, and removed most of the spike leaving only a small piece behind. Now however Sara had chosen to remove it and prevent any infection from setting in. Leo had to agree with her that it was for the best, he doubted Brutes kept any part of their equipment in fine condition. Just enough that it worked, which translated to a collection of near-trash weapons which likely only needed to wound him before he died of some illness.

Leo scoffed at the idea of him dying because a Brute had failed to clean his weapon properly.

The Spartan felt the blood begin to run down his shoulder. The warm trickle began to drip into the cave floor, or his body suit. The gray full body suit was ripped, and looked to be in poor condition. There were also many blotches of now dried blood, and now the suit was beginning to soak up more blood.

At least the mild pain he was feeling as Sara began to remove the piece of metal blocked out the older pains. He was darkly amused by the fact that he considered the pain caused by injuries merely hours old, were now _old_. The odds were quiet likely that there would be absolutely no way that he would not go even a full week without sustaining any major injuries. He doubted he could go a _day_ on Reach without minor injuries at this point.

The pain in his shoulder grew slightly to a very sharp pinch which momentarily stunted his thought processes.

"_Es most mar,_ well now its not as disgusting as it was before. I will have to begin stitching the wound now Lieutenant." She said in a satisfied tone. It wasn't everyday someone was able to perform basic field aid on a Spartan, though pulling out a spiker hardly counted as such, or the fact that she was not even a medic. Just a descendant of Reach's first colonists who preferred staying in the wilderness, and also happened to be the daughter of one of the top tier scientists in Halsey's research programs.

And the fact that he neither spoke, nor understood, he when she spoke in Hungarian was starting to become an annoyance. Still, he did not survive dealing with the occasional thick headed ODSTs, or military bigots by allowing minor annoyances to cloud his judgment. Surprisingly, the ODSTs were a way that Leo had always stood apart from his fellow Spartans. In fact, he actually had a decent enough relationship with the elite of the Marines.

Ever since he had been put in a mission behind enemy lines with a team of ODSTs, the traditional Spartan-Helljumper rivalry had been thrown out the window. The mission had gone FUBAR on only the second day. For five days Leo, then only a Petty Chief 2nd Class, and the small squad of ODSTs under the command of a Master Sergeant Cortez, had attacked and avoided Covenant patrols by using guerilla warfare. Over that time they had lost three of the marines, but Leo had risked his life to rescue five more from being captured. And he had injured himself to the point where he had nearly lost his arm, but the marines had survived.

Leo's entire life was one great sacrifice. He knew that the Spartan-IIIs were expendable, knew that the fact that he had survived so long was unexpected. Still Leo had accepted that so many years ago, and he had lived his life accordingly. The idea of dying to protect another human was just a part of his nature, and he would do so without a moments hesitation. While he was not particularly friendly with the ODSTs, there was a deep respect between him and them. Because of that mission only the truly unwilling ones still treated him like a freak. If he had never let a Helljumper get under his skin, there was no way this woman was going to do it.

"There," Sara said followed by a snip as she finished stitching his shoulder, "You're not going to worry about dying from an infection now."

"Right. That leaves about a hundred or so more ways left on Reach now." Leo told her while he rotated his injured shoulder. There was a mild discomfort, but overall Sara had done a well enough medical job. In fact it appeared as though a professional doctor had performed it. He wondered if-

"Are Spartans supposed to be so pessimistic? Or is it just because of that?" She asked him in a sharp tone, gesturing outside the cave and in the direction of the fires. Then her voice quieted into slightly worried form. "I hope you will not speak to Rozsa in that manner. She already knows far too much about what is happening to our home than one so young should."

Leo slowly nodded his head seriously. He moved his head slightly so that the young girl in question was then in his periphery vision.

"How young is she?" He asked in a barely audible voice. There was something about that little girl that affected him greatly. Was it because he had never really had to deal with children Beta Company's destruction? Or was it because of simple human nature to protect the young? For all the knowledge and training he possessed, the answer eluded him for the time being.

"_Nyolc_, eight years." Was the answer that came from the brunette. Quietly Sara straightened herself up, and slowly walked over to Rozsa. When she was next to the girl, Sara sat down near her head. The young woman then began to gently stroke Rozsa's raven hair. "No one should have to watch as their home is destroyed around them. As men and women die by the millions to protect them, or as monsters come and murder their families."

For several minutes there was a long stretch of depressing silence between the two adults. Leo did not speak, still watching the little girl sleep. He knew too well the pain of seeing one's world burn. He had been younger than her, his mind unable to comprehend anything aside from the fact that he was alone. Yet he believed that the pain she tired to hide was much worse than his own.

Rozsa _knew _what was happening. And while she may not have understood the why, she understood what was being done to Reach. Worse, she was still on the planet. When his home planet had been attacked he at least had been placed on an escape shuttle while the Covenant was on the other side of the planet. Rozsa was in the middle of the death of Reach.

"I understand what you are saying quiet clearly." He said, his voice returning to the monotone. Sara's head turned to stare at him, eyes filled with anger. When she spoke however, her voice was level and quiet so not to wake the sleeping child.

"What do Spartans knew of this pain? To watch as your family dies in front of you, and be utterly helpless? You are Super-Human, you can kill those bastard aliens with you hands! You never feel the way we do." Then her voice lowered even more, and turned cold. "You're barely even human. I doubt you even have names."

That did strike something in the Spartan. Helpless? He had felt that way the moment Jorge had lost his own life. Leo still felt it now, though it was more hidden and unnoticeable. He had lost Noble Team and they were, to him at least, his _family_. She would not get away with saying something like that.

"You are wrong." He said, this time his voice coming out cold enough to freeze panic stricken civilians in their place. "I know what it feels like to lose your family. I watched as my colony was glassed from orbit. I watched as my original company left on a mission, only to be utterly annihilated. I stared into the eyes of a dying young woman just hours ago, someone who was the closest thing to a sister I have ever known." Leo's fists tightened considerably. It _hurt_ to remember these things, and as his memory played everything back once again it only grew more painful. He needed to let some of it out.

"My entire team, my new family, died one by one in front of me. They died believing that we could turn the tide of this war. We knew Reach was lost, knew that we were likely going to perish, but we still fought to buy time. Time which allowed some civilians to escape the planet, time for humanity's last hope to survive and go on its mission. But they still died, and I am still alive. There are only two reasons I still chose to keep on living. One is to keep a promise that dying girl, and the other is right next to you." Leo laid down on the cave floor and turned his back to her. "Don't try and think you understand me. I don't even fully know anymore. _Never_, mention it again."

Once again silence populated the atmosphere in the cave. The flickering sounds of fire the only proof that there was anything inside the cave at all. Leo closed his eyes, fully intending to sleep. And yet once again, he was interrupted from his actions. Though it did surprise him.

"I am…Sorry. It is not fair to be angry with you about what is happening to my home. I was w-wrong." Then he heard her lay down on the floor herself. Leo listened to her breathing slow to the point where she was between awake, and sleep.

"Leo."

"Huh?" Came the quiet, and sleepy reply.

"My name. Its Leo." Again silence was the answer to his statement. And again, she broke it in an unexpected way.

"_Jo ejszakat _Leo. Good night."

_AN: Just in case anyone wants to know what Sara, and sometimes Rozsa will say, pm if you want an immediate translation. I intend to post the Hungarian used in this story, and the translations when they get off Reach. And thank you for being patient with me. The next update in two-three days time. _


	7. Chapter 7

_Closed in _

_**A226 0543 Hours, Two Days After Wide Spread Planetary Glassing**_

Jun, Alpha-226, began to play one of the many memory games he had been taught once again. He, the Spartan-II's, and Dr. Halsey had been trapped under the remains of CASTLE Base for the better part of forty eight hours. Two days of dealing with the endless racket being made by Covenant excavation on the surface. Two days without any form of reference to real time. Perhaps they had been in this place for more than two days, perhaps less. When night and day ceased to even exist, when time itself lost all meaning, did the hours even matter? Everything simply seemed to blend to the point where it meant absolutely nothing.

The entire time he had been adjusting to being near the public Spartans. Though perhaps that was not the proper term. Jun had been a part of several infiltration missions where he had to work with ONI special agents. Shockingly, several had required him to go without his time tested MJOLNIR armor. The Noble Sniper doubted Doctor Halsey's Spartans had spent anytime outside of their own armor, aside from the required maintenance and off duty time aboard UNSC ships and Reach.

They were an entirely different bunch than any he had worked with. Jorge had been a member of the same class as his new companions, and yet they were different from how the large man had acted. _Then again,_ he thought to himself, _Jorge was always the more social of us. Sure had one helluva poker face. _

That was yet another of the many things the Spartan had been doing. Jun had been replaying past experiences to the best of his ability. Unlike the few humans who had perfect recollection of their entire lives, he did not _see _theses things as though they were happening yet again. Rather he was remembering all the details he could about previous actions.

Most of these were quite similar in one key way. They were all somehow connected to Noble Team. Be it earlier missions that he had been a part of, or simply remembering his fallen teammates. It likely was not healthy to delve into the past like that, but he truly had little else to do in order to pass the time.

And to not pay attention to one very obvious detail. Jun was a man of little care to wherever he found himself. Everything either fell into one of five categories: friendly, hostile, cover, ambush sites, or sniper positions. For the most part anything about his environment aside from those went nearly unnoticed by him.

Except for his current location. Buried below hundreds of tons of rock, steel, and concrete. Beneath the feet of possibly tens of thousands of Grunts and Jackals, thousands of Elites, and hundreds of Hunters. With little light aside from the flashlights installed in their helmets. He had found out that his assumption of this being a large underground cavern was false. Rather they had managed to enter a series of long abandoned mining tunnels. The same place where the titanium used to give human warships some protection again the Covenant plasma weapons, now held Humanity's most brilliant scientist, and its most effective tools against the aliens. The close walls, the near deaf silence to protect their ears from the excavating forces, and the darkness.

Jun was frightened by this. He knew that many would likely laugh at the thought of a claustrophobic SPARTAN Super Soldier. After all, they did spend much of their time inside the large and heavy armor. And yet the armor had never bothered him, in fact it had always felt like more of a second skin. The multiple times he had needed to remain in a sniper position where he had been unable to move, those were also entirely different. Then he had something to focus on, a threat to his life and the lives of his teammates. And he had rarely spent more than a day in such positions.

Unfortunately there was nothing to focus on to that degree. While the doctor's search for some new discovery did take his mind off of his fear, that activity rarely kept it at bay for more than a few hours. There simply was _nothing _inside this place aside from themselves. When he searched the duty soon became nothing more than near mindless walking. Without anything to really keep his mind from running around by itself he inevitably found himself beginning to feel the fear again.

He was a Spartan-III, a Noble Spartan. But he was also a human, no matter how augmented he was, and like all animals was not immune to nature's random decisions. The fear was there now, and he was desperate to find any way to keep from focusing on it. Anyway at all. But the memory games were now ineffective having been performed several hundred times. And the search for who knew what was not going well.

If it were any other problem he would have dealt with it in the Spartan manner. Push it away from his thoughts, or use it as an anchor to remind himself of what he was doing. His claustrophobia was not like that; he had never been able to act indifferent while it was there. It was truly unhealthy for a soldier to allow his fear to have control over his actions. Jun had witnessed innumerable numbers of trooper and marines freeze up for just a second in the face of their enemy, which was more than often fatal unless dealing with the Grunts who would likely freeze as well.

Jun knew that if he was to be an effective soldier he had to rein in his fear. The problem was that he did not know how to do it on his own. Which was why he was walking back to the impromptu base of operations. The small base camp where they all rested every few hours. What he was going to do went against his entire mindset, and was almost a rule. But he would have to break it if he was to be rid of this gnawing fear.

Jun rested his hand on one of the doctor's shoulders. Unlike many ordinary humans whose first action would be to jump in surprise and fear, the doctor merely turned her head to look over his hand. The only surprise that showed was not of shock over not hearing him, it was simply a mild surprise that it was _him_. It was more than likely that Doctor Catherine Halsey had become accustomed to not overhearing the movements of her Spartan-II's. The slight surprise quickly disappeared as the doctor turned her head back to look down at her medical equipment.

"What do you want Warrant Officer?" She asked in a dry tone, similar to the one Kat used when she was disturbed while doing her work. It was almost scary how brilliant the two women were. Kat had decrypted the final piece of the puzzle for Doctor Halsey to put her plan into action, whatever that was. He was not here to think about such things however.

"Answers," he said in a professional tone. He rarely spoke that way unless it was to Carter, or Colonel Holland.

"What reason do you have to ask me?" she asked him, her face betraying all but no emotion.

Jun sat himself down on one knee so he was more level with the doctor. He had not really spoken to her enough speak like Fred and the others did. But then again, aside from her reputation and file, what did he actually even know about her?

"I need to know if you have anything to get my mind off my claustrophobia," he stated bluntly.

Mild surprise crossed the doctor's face once again. "You want to know if I can get your mind off your fear." It was not meant as a question, but rather a statement. That was something he was starting to find annoying in the doctor. She rarely asked him any questions, and spoke as though she already had an answer to any he asked. Still, he did need an answer and solution badly.

"In a nutshell, yeah. That's what I want. Yes or no Doctor?"

"In a 'nutshell' as you put it…. No," she answered simply.

Jun felt his frustration begin to steadily grow. The fear was placed into a secondary state of mind at the moment, replaced with his anger at this newest development. "NOTHING! There has to be something, anything." He looked around at the few pieces of medical equipment they had. He noticed a small medical cloning tank, several portable field aid kits, a collection of surgeons tools carefully wrapped, and several small bottles of morphine. But there was nothing he could see that would help him through his personal nightmare. The doctor was right. There was nothing she had that could help him.

"Yes. Fred and Will only managed to bring basic medical supplies. Aside from the small cloning tank we have nothing above civilian grade equipment, which sadly lacks any form of medication that may help alleviate your fears."

"I can't let this affect me Doctor Halsey. A Spartan who lets fear control them is a disadvantage under the best of circumstances." That had been one of the training regiments during training on Onyx. It had been one of many lessons instilled in them from the first day. He remembered when he had been required to jump off a fast moving Pelican with only a parachute, and at age six he hadn't hesitated. The fact that he had been able to accomplish _that_, only to allow a fear of closed spaces affect his performance was an insult he refused to accept.

"I am sorry Warrant Officer, but I am afraid there is nothing I can do to aid you. However, I will need to determine how much this is affecting you." As she said this her eyes became purely professional. Jun noted that the doctor did not ask for his consent to perform such a test as well; he hated that about her. She acted as though he would have to obey her orders, and yet she technically had no real place in the UNSC Command Structure. How she had the influence to sway admirals was a question he had been wondering much about. Yet despite his preferences, he found himself complying to her demands.

Doctor Halsey was a woman of many different sciences. Now it appeared that she was about to take the role of a psychologist.

_Damn it Lieutenant,_ he thought as the doctor began her questioning,_ You'd better have a damned good reason for not finding a way here by now. Can't believe I am actually starting to wish you and your silent act to this mess I'm in. _

_AN: Sorry it's a bit late guys, but my RL has been kind of a drag lately. First off there is my girlfriend who is trying to convince me to go with her to one of her cousins, who I never even knew she had, wedding ceremony in Savannah, Georgia. Then I've had to study hard for the written part of my journey towards a state driver's license. Add on my changed hours working at my job, and this weeks been a real insane mess. _

_Any way, I've decided to post this short chapter right now for three reasons. I don't know when I'll update next and I wanted to get something within a week of my last update. Second, I originally intended to Jun go through a shrink session with Dr. Halsey, but I found writing that to be utterly impossible for me to do. It just wasn't the way I write, so I had to get rid of it hence to shortened length. Thirdly, I really wanted Leo to get a move on to CASTLE, and meet a few other survivors in the next update. That will hopefully be a lot easier to do for me, and I'm aiming for at least 5K+ words for it._

_SO, Im hoping I've fulfilled a bit of my plan to flesh out Jun's character out pretty well. But that's your opinion, so let me know. I just think that as a sniper, he'd spend most of his time in the open nearly invisible. So what if that was because he was afraid of closed spaces? Also, I would like to thank my new Beta, Ryan Priessman for helping me out with my grammar and punctuation problems. _

_Also, side note people, I'd like to thank you guys for not mentioning above problems in your reviews much. It really makes me think that you guys are really into this story, so much that your willing to not care about my failings in writing. So thank you. I promise I will do my best to improve on that, but hey I'm just a sixteen year old boy. Can't be expected to be a top notch writer at that age. _


	8. Chapter 8

_Not Alone_

_**B312 **_

_**0753 Hours, September 3, 2552, Two Days after Wide Spread Planetary Glassing **_

Spartan B-312 awoke the moment his ears registered a strange sound. Slowly, the Spartan Lieutenant rose up from his position on the cave floor. His sense of smell was assaulted once again by the putrid stench of the unnaturally large bull Guta. His body flinched the barest of millimeters as he stretched every part of his upper body. The three and a half dozen wounds he had received, only in the last four days as well, all varied in the amount of pain they caused the twenty four year old Spartan.

His multiple injuries ranged from minor annoyances, such as bruises, to recently stitched wounds all the way up to his still tender shoulder, to several second degree plasma burns. Leo fought back the urge to gingerly rub his most recent prominent scar. He turned his gaze to stare first at the peeled off section of his gray body suit. Once again, he found it hard to believe that the stitching had been done to near surgeon standards. Leo looked at the reasonably painful looking scar, courtesy of a mistakenly assumed dead Brute.

In a slow and deliberate motion, Leo tilted his head slightly upward by several centimeters. His eyes focused on the pair of civilians still sleeping just several feet from him. Leo saw that during the night Rozsa had snuggled her way closer to Sara, and the young woman had in turn wrapped her arms protectively around the eight year old child's waist. The Spartan felt slightly uncomfortable as he watched the pair sleep peacefully. Leo felt as though he did not belong anywhere near them, that this was something he was never meant to witness.

That was what the logical part of his mind, the Spartan part, told him. But there was also a noticeable part of him that strangely and desperately wished he could have been in Rozsa's position. A sleeping child, blissfully unaware of the horrors of real life while sleeping. Wrapped in the arms of another person who cared for and wanted to protect him.

With a surprisingly high amount of willpower, Leo pushed his mind away from such thoughts. Slowly, the Spartan found his way to his feet before turning to walk in the direction of his armor. He kept his movements silent so not to awaken his visibly worn companions. Leo knew he could never hold them to the standards reserved for fellow Spartans; they couldn't go days without rest on any number of injuries like he could, or wake up as early as he had.

His eyes flickered to his left, scanning the distance outside their temporary shelter. The sound of a light but steady rain fall reached his ears. In addition to that, the Spartan could see that dawn would be several hours away for their part of Reach. Leo would have sighed in mild frustration, if he were anything but a Spartan. He knew that despite the gloomy and depressing look, the rain was not without its benefits.

Leo stopped several feet from the orderly placed pieces of his armor. He was reminded of what he had told Sara earlier the other day when she had offered him water. If they were going to survive the next few days, and he would make sure _they_ at least would, Leo knew they would have to maintain a ready amount of fresh water. He turned to look at what they had to serve as containers. Wherever Sara and Rozsa had been before meeting him yesterday, he wondered if it also had all the equipment they seemed to have picked up.

Sara had brought six military issue canteens, several of which appeared to be covered by small traces of dried _human_ blood. That brought several questions to forefront of his mind, but as they had no relevancy to their current situation he filled them away to the back of his mind. In addition to the canteens the Reach native had brought two bags of MREs and four medical packs. Enough to last a pair of civilians for a little over two weeks, if rationed carefully.

Leo was slightly curious as to what the two of them had planned, but he would not ask them. Regardless of what their plans had been, they had been irreversibly changed the moment he met them. After uncapping the canteens the Spartan took them outside and placed them against the cave rock, where they would hopefully be filled with rain water when the time came to leave.

As soon as the rain began to pick up once again, he was already standing before his armor components. Typically, he would have been assisted by a team of security certified technicians. Under those conditions it would have taken nearly ten minutes to fully equip his MJOLNIR Power Armor. However, all Spartans did know how to equip the armor themselves; it just took anywhere from twenty five to thirty minutes depending on the condition of the armor in question.

As he was placing the armor plates over his body, his mind began to wander back to his earlier thoughts. After the Beta Company augmentations he had been told that there were some….minor side effects that soon began to affect several of the new Spartan-III class. Leo was one such Spartan. Somewhere on a chemical and cellular as well, areas of his brain had been affected in slightly abnormal ways. While humanity had advanced significantly since leaving Earth hundreds of years ago, there were still hundreds of mysteries the human mind still held.

For the most part these side effects were actually beneficial. While he never received the full details, Lieutenant Commander Ambrose had informed him personally the speed at which his mind processed and reacted to information was nearly as high as a 5th generation "Dumb AI", and would make him the best pilot the UNSC would ever see, a fact that he himself had proven many times over the years. While never officially reported, Leo had broken every pilot record in the files aside from flight time.

There were the negative effects as well however: such as severe migraines, and a near impossibility to remain mentally still. As a result of this Leo was only able to remain clear headed under the stress of battle. Therefore in order to cope, he had forced himself to be able to create mental walls which held any new information he learned. Outside of battle he allowed his mind to come back to these mental containers, but he still felt that the benefits sometimes did not measure up to the negatives.

It was because of this, that he once again thought of what he had felt while watching Rozsa and Sara. And what it meant. For the most part, both the Spartan-II and III classes had no knowledge of life outside the UNSC, or the battlefield. They _knew_ what civilians would do on a peaceful day, what they would do with families, and holidays. Unfortunately that was what they learned from what normal soldiers spoke about, not from their own experiences. Aside from his single experience with those children eleven years ago, Leo had no idea what civilians really were like or what they felt was normal. What being human _meant__and felt_ like.

The Spartan Lieutenant realized that next to Rozsa, he was practically a toddler when it came to understanding the non-war actions of humans. Mentally he thumped himself, and for the briefest of instances cursed being a Spartan. What reason did he have to even have anything to do with her and Sara? Especially when the word "human" became as separated from himself as the Covenant were. As a Spartan humans may as well have been a different species of non-hostile aliens, for the most part at least.

As he sealed his helmet over his armor, the Spartan realized that he had been thinking on that until he had equipped his armor. And he still had no real answer, or even a question to have an answer for. Perhaps this was the reason Spartans were distant from other humans. Being raised to be a Super-Soldier made thinking about the way of life for normal humans too complicated. Leo came to the revelation that for the first time since joining the Spartan-III program, he wanted to experience that life more than he wanted to be fighting the Covenant.

His entire body froze the moment that thought came to the front of his mind. Why had even thought of it? Could a Spartan, a soldier bred for war and given the purpose of defending humanity, even be capable of such a life? Would he be given the chance at all? None were likely, especially with Reach gone and Earth the Covenant Armada's next target.

_Enough! _the Spartan part of his mind yelled out at him. _These questions and doubts are a sign of depression. As a Spartan, my duty comes first before any thoughts. Right now that means keeping Rozsa and Sara _safe _and I can't do that while I'm felling like this. Take control Spartan, remember Noble. _

Leo began to take several long deep breaths, trying to control his emotions once again. His logical side was right: he was a Spartan and their duty always came first. The Spartan Lieutenant knew that he would likely not survive the war, even if humanity somehow did win. He shouldn't have even been thinking that far ahead. Leo was more likely to still be alive in a week, than he was to still be alive in a year.

Turning to face the still sleeping pair, his eyes caught Rozsa small form trembling slightly. Belaying the heavy weight of the armor, Leo quietly walked to stand in front of the eight year old girl's face. He saw the girl biting her lower lip, sweat appearing on her forehead. Pressing a gloved hand lightly to her face, his armor systems register a change in temperature in the girl. Rozsa's body temperature was two degrees above what it should be for a child. If she came down with an illness, there were no hospitals or medical supplies to treat her.

Leo managed to stop a sense of fear from rising in his chest. Why did that matter so much to him? Her well being was important to him, yes, and he would die in an instant to keep her safe. And yet, why in the name of God was he _afraid_ of losing her? Was it because it would feel similar to losing Noble? Or had she somehow affected him to such a degree in a short time without his knowing?

He was sure of one thing. He'd allowed his emotions to rise to the surface for the barest of time, and it was enough that it had changed him. The question was, would it be a good or bad change?

"Hmm, I wonder," Leo said quietly to himself, the helmet's voice filter not registering his quiet tone. "When did I start to become a philosopher?"

The Spartan reached for the prototype equipment located on his lower back. The device had been damaged when a Zealot had grabbed Leo from the back, and then threw him in the direction of a Hunter. He'd struck the twelve foot tall monster's shield just as it was about to attack Emile. The heat it produced the moment it was damaged was nearly the same as atmospheric reentry had been, apparently hot enough that the Hunter's shield melted slightly. Emile had taken advantage of the moment and jumped onto the alien's back holding onto a pair of spikes while firing his shot gun into its vulnerable orange "flesh".

Emile had saved Leo's life that day and never thought much of it. And yet when it was his life in danger, Leo's turn to save his brother Spartan, the Hyper Lethal Vector had failed to return the favor.

Shaking his head slightly the Spartan disconnected the equipment. The moment it had been damaged his armor had ceased to send any further power and automatically shut it off. Yet the now unusable Hologram projector still had several hours worth of power to sustain itself while activated.

Leo set down the experimental equipment a foot away from Rozsa, careful to set it down where the girl would not be able to touch it in her sleep. Then he re-activated it and waited several short seconds. Soon a yellow light covered several short inches of the cave floor, the light becoming slightly fainter in the seconds that followed. His armor detected the increase in temperature immediately.

While it had been undamaged it had never released any amount of heat, yet when damaged it did. He had set it on a low level setting in order to protect the girls. Once damaged the projector released a small amount of radiation, and if it were at a higher level the heat output would cause more damage. They two were in enough danger already; Leo refused add anymore to their lives.

He returned his sight back towards the eight year old girl. Leo stayed in front of her, his armored knees pressing against the cold floor. The girl's shaking soon slowed down and stopped entirely several minutes later. Smiling slightly the Spartan slowly stood up once again, content in the knowledge that he had a hand in keeping Rozsa comfortable.

He felt a weak grip on his gloved left hand.

"Don't go." came the drowsy voice of the same girl. Leo's heart fell as he heard the obvious trace of utter terror in Rozsa's voice. An emotion he had unintentionally placed in her himself. Ironic that while he could ease the fear in battle hardened troopers by joining them in battle, and yet not a little girl whom he had tried to take care of. Leo felt his eyes wince slightly. "You can't leave us Mister Spartan, you can't," Rozsa said, this time sounding as though on the verge of tears.

"I won't," he told the girl quietly. Leo gently shrugged off Rozsa's small hand and turned to half crouch in front of the girl. The Spartan Lieutenant instantly took note of the visible tear stains on her face, partially hidden by raven haired locks. Her brown eyes clearly projected the fear she was feeling. Fear he had caused.

"Then why did you put that armor on? Why were you looking at the outside?" she asked him in a near hysterical tone. To his surprise Sara hadn't awoken; Rozsa was not speaking quietly at all.

"Because-" his response was quickly interrupted.

"Was it my fault? Because I fell asleep and didn't find the cave with you?" Leo was amazed she could even think he was leaving because of her. The Spartan was _staying _with them for her sake, why blame herself?

"No. Its not your fault. You haven't done anything Rozsa, don't blame yourself," he told her in as reassuring a tone as he could muster. This was very unfamiliar territory now. Leo was used to being with confident men and women surrounding him. He was used to letting others deal with those who felt utter despair. The Spartan had never once in his life found himself in this situation. Trying to calm a person down, certainly never a child. That had been Jorge's specialty.

Brown eyes did not look reassured in the slightest. Reddened eyes still let tears continue to run down pale white cheeks. Leo could see that he was failing at something yet again. Some part of him told him that he would find himself doing that for the rest of his life, no matter how long or short.

Slowly, and with no small amount of nervousness, Leo moved a hand towards the eight year old child's face. He took notice that her eyes looked confused, and then surprised as he gently removed the black hair covering her face. The Spartan then placed finger to her cheek and move it over her tears, getting rid of them even more gently.

"You don't have to cry, I'm not worth anyone shedding a single tear for, Rozsa," Leo told her in a whisper. As he moved his hand back from her face Rozsa began to move out of Sara's arms. The part of him that paid attention to even the slightest of details thought that the woman's arms were removed far to easily. Leo watched as Rozsa tried to stand quickly, only to nearly fall from the remnants of sleep that had yet to fully leave her body. "Rozsa don't stand up. Right now you should be getting as much sleep as possible," he ordered the girl.

To his utter shock the black-haired child took two steps forward and then wrapped her short arms as far around his body as she could. He could tell she was holding him as tightly as she possibly could, as though still afraid that he would leave her.

"You didn't say no. Please don't go," she whimpered quietly as she began to sob into the chest plate. Awkwardly, Leo moved to pull the girl closer to his chest in an unpracticed hug. Absentmindedly he found that this felt almost natural, similar to the instincts he felt while fighting. Perhaps this was a normal human reaction towards children. Leo vaguely remembered a man and woman, their faces barely noticeable, do the same for him. His parents?

"I promise," he said to her quietly, resting her head below his helmet. Leo stroked her back slowly, allowing her to stop him if he was doing something wrong. Rozsa's response was quite the opposite actually; the little girl was trying to bury herself deeper into his body. He was a complete stranger to her; she had only seen his face once, and only known him for a little under twenty four hours. Yet she was clinging to him as an ocean sailor would a life float.

"Thank you, Leo."

And then he was once again shocked by a child, his entire body locking up. "What did you say?" he asked her in an incredulous tone. How the hell had she known his name?

"Leo. That your name right, or was I wrong again?" she replied before pulling her head back to stare into the black visor, a look of disappointment and annoyance in her eyes. Briefly he wondered if she had a split-personality disorder; that seemed to be the only explanation for her quick change of attitude. "Why did you stop, Mister Spartan?"

"No….No. That _is _my name. It's just..." he found himself opening and closing his mouth, trying to find the right words. "How do you know? I never told you."

A look of hurt crossed Rozsa's innocent face. "But you told Sara," she answered him in a confused and slightly hurt voice. "You were arguing, I woke up. I thought my mommy and uncle were fighting again, that they didn't leave me." Leo noticed that she was trying to fight back more tears. "Before you went to sleep you said your name was Leo. Why you tell her who you are when you were yelling, but not me? That makes no sense, it's not nice. And you're a nice man. Why?" Rozsa then let the tears run down her face once again as she tried to pull away from him, tearing her arms away from him as though he were a fire that had burned her.

To the child's surprise, evidenced by her squeak, Leo pulled her closer to his chest again. He wrapped his green and golden armored arms around her small and fragile frame. The Spartan set the chin of his helmet gently to her right shoulder. "Sorry," he told the still sobbing girl in a tender voice. Leo continued to hold her until she had completely finished. He then picked up his head and rested it against her forehead, while gently stroking her back once again. The Spartan remained that way for a few minutes further, reassuring the girl of his sincerity. Eventually he did release her, allowing the girl to take several tentative half steps back before speaking again. "I apologize, little one. I save you once, and I then find myself the cause of more pain. I promise you though, I won't leave you or Sara. _Ever_. When I make a promise I fight with everything that makes me who I am until I fulfill it or I drop to the ground. I've never been in this position, spending so much time with civilians like you and Sara. I'm sorry if I hurt you, and I won't blame you for hating me, or not forgiving me. I don't know what makes a person 'nice', or not. Just know that I will do everything I can to keep you two safe. My life is worthless. Your lives? Those are priceless, and I will die if-"

A small fist struck the visor. "Stop. Don't finish what you were gonna say, don't. I don't want you to die, I don't want someone else to disappear forever again," Rozsa told him, cradling the hand she had punched him with. "And I don't hate you." The eight year old child then closed the distance between them once more, and rested her head against his armor. Leo hugged her close for the third time, and locked eyes with the now awake Sara.

The Reach native had a thin smile on her face. Leo should have suspected that she was awake the entire time, if anything she had been acting _too _hardlike she was still sleeping. Rising up half way she nodded her head once, before her lips moved silently. "_Thank you. She trys to hide it, but she's been having nightmares ever since her parents," _she mouthed to him. _"Good to see that there is a real human being in there. Not just a body pretending to be one." _


	9. Chapter 9

_Enter the Commando_

_**B312**_

_**0825 Hours, September 3, 2552, Two Days after Wide Spread Planetary Glassing **_

"_Utálom ezt az ételt. Miért nem eszünk jó dolgok?" _Rozsa asked in perfect Hungarian. Perfect Hungarian, which meant that Leo was once again left out of the conversation. Something that was very rare when the little raven haired girl spoke. The Spartan Lieutenant found his lack of involvement slightly relaxing. The eight year old was unbelievably confusing to him; Leo was still puzzled at the multiple changes in tone, and attitude the girl had shown him just minutes ago.

"_Ez? Ez a "jó" étel Roza. Most, ha nem akarod, hát biztos vagyok benne, a spártai ott szeretnék néhány."_ The third person in their temporary cave answered what ever it was Rozsa had asked. The Reach brunette brushed back several strands of hair away from her face, her face a picture of amusement. Leo raised an eyebrow slightly at one particular word, _'spártai'_. Sara caught the movement herself, and flashed a small smile at him. "Yes. It means Spartan." What in the name of God was going on with these girls? How could Rozsa act like she had split personalities, and how could Sara read him so quickly?

"Thank you for clarifying, Miss. Sorvad," Noble Six said before turning his attention to the eight year old girl sitting next to him. "Rozsa, may I inquire as to what it is you said?" he asked her in as friendly a tone as he could manage. His reward was look of momentary confusion before she smiled up at him.

"I said, 'I hate this food. Why can't we eat good food,' Mister Spartan." the child quickly whipped her head to face the source of a scoffing sound.

"No you didn't. You said 'eat good', not 'eat good food'. Please try and use the language properly Rozsa." the Reach native told the girl while she failed the stop herself from laughing. In response the little girl next to the Spartan threw a small pebble at her. The rock bounced off harmlessly from Sara's left shoulder. The older woman's laughter stopped for several seconds, black eyes locking onto an innocently smiling face. And then suddenly the cave was filled with the sound of laughter coming from the pair. Laughter which left a professional soldier looking very confused, and uncertain.

_Maybe I'm not the only one slowly losing their mind_, Leo mused to himself. He allowed himself to briefly enjoy the sound however much it confused him. It meant that they were still alive, and it was a reminder that he still had to keep them that way. The fact that both girl's laughter served to relax him was a bonus.

The most recent, and he had to be realistic: likely only surviving member, member of Noble Team quickly finished off his own MRE ration. The flavorless, and very dry, meal slowly moved down his throat. Leo washed down what had been a very short and barely filling meal with a sip of water. The now full canteens were piled next to the damaged piece of equipment, which he had turned into a replacement for a warm fire.

"We should be leaving soon." He said in a now serious voice. Immediately the laughter was permanently ended as two pairs of eyes met his own. Leo found himself slightly relieved at brining an end to the cause of feelings of awkwardness. Still he disliked having to bring them back to reality, especially when he wished he himself wasn't in it, but it had to be done. They could not afford to remain in the Guta cave for any longer. After all Leo still had to confirm Jun and Doctor Halsey's statuses and find a way off the soon to be dead world.

And Spartan training be damned, he refused to spend one more hour in this cave. The Guta left a unique odor in the cave, an odor that had begun to irk the Spartan himself.

The cave still reeked the stench of its previous owner in full force. Leo had learned long ago never to take deep breaths in this kind of environment. The stench would leave even a veteran Spartan-II gagging if they took a deep enough whiff of air. Which meant that Sara and Rozsa were no exception; the moment they'd stopped laughing the pair had begun coughing themselves.

Leo gently patted Rozsa on the back until she had regained her normal breathing. "T-thank y-you Mister Spartan." the girl said to him, a quickly becoming familiar smile on her face. The Lieutenant nodded to the child, moving his head so that she could visibly see it. The gentle smile lowered slightly as he stood up from his position on the cold cave floor. Leo feared that the eight year old may have still been carrying some fear of him leaving her.

As the Spartan began to assist Sara in packing up the party's supplies, his mind began to think on that fear again. Why was she still afraid? The logical part of his mind told him a reasonable answer: she was frightened of the Covenant and he represented safety. The new and growing part of him, the part that was greatly concerned with the well being of the girls, had a different response. A response that in itself slightly frightened the Spartan: Rozsa had for lack of a better word "adopted" him.

_And yet, would her thinking of me as family be really so terrible? _

He silently told himself that it wasn't. It was just not practical for him, nothing that a Spartan could afford. The only family he'd ever had was his original team of Spartans from Beta Company, with Noble coming in behind them. If Rozsa wanted to find a family in him to replace the one she'd lost…he was afraid she never would.

No matter how much some part of him wanted it, or how fast it was growing.

Slowly shaking off such thoughts Leo did a quick check to make sure their supplies were all packed properly. While doing so his eyes paused over his sole weapon, the M6G Magnum. Noble Six narrowed his eyes at the half empty weapon knowing full well it was nearly useless. With just four of its Semi-Armor-Piercing-High-Explosive rounds Leo may as well have decided to simply leave it in the cave. The Spartan knew that if they ran into any Covenant ground troops he'd have to engage in hand-to-hand combat very quickly. . . Never mind if they ran into a Wraith.

_Still_, thought the Spartan as he gave a quick side glance to where Sara was speaking with Rozsa, _it's better than having nothing to defend them with. _The lieutenant soon looked at the slightly blackened TACPAD strapped to his left forearm, the faint scorch marks matching the equally scorched areas on his otherwise dark green armor. With a few quick commands Leo began searching for any nearby UNSC armories, or small towns which may have hidden additional contraband by the Reach Militia.

Too bad he hadn't bothered to ask the militia forces with him and Jun the night before UNSC forces launched a counterattack at Viery. He had no idea if all militia groups had similar set ups, or that particular group just happened to be more along the lines of smugglers.

He soon came across a likely location, a small town the TACPAD failed to have a name for. Meaning that odds were it was little more than some kind of village that ONI had failed to place any information about into the device. Hopefully they also had not bothered to check for any illegal contraband: he could clearly picture a DMR, or maybe a rocket launcher hidden away somewhere.

Placing a waypoint marker on the location so that he could follow it on his HUD Leo turned to face the girls. The pair locked eyes with one another before turning to meet the Super Soldiers gaze. Without any form of communication Leo promptly turned and began to walk out of the cave, the sound of slightly faster steps signaling the girls were following.

No matter what would happen later on, Leo was glad of one thing. The damned stench would soon be nothing more than an addition to his archives of unwanted memories.

* * *

_**0916 (Human Time) Bridge of the **_**Bane of Heresy**

_**Commando**_

Special Operations Officer Voro 'Refumai stood outside the doors to the bridge of the _Bane of Heresy_ a Covenant Assault Carrier, and with the departure of the Fleet of Particular Justice's Commander and his flagship, now acting as the command ship for the surviving Covenant warship.

The Sangheili swordsman gave a low growl respect which went unheard by the dozen or so brothers following him. The humans had surprised him in this battle immensely, and while none dared mention it, a feeling echoed in the minds of the majority of his people present. For a single planetary cycle the world which the _Bane of Heresy_ orbited had been assaulted by forces of the glorious Covenant Empire. In that time their forces had clashed repeatedly with those of the human filth, and while emerging victorious time and time again, the forces sent returned smaller on not at all.

Millions upon millions of the believers lay dead in this battle. With a snort Voro decided this engagement in their Holy Crusade was not a battle, it was a massacre for both sides.

The doors opened with a hiss and the Officer made his way to the Ship Master, his team of Special Operations warriors remaining where they stood. Voro passed two pairs of Mgalekgolo came to a straight standing position, their shields held on their left sides touching the floor. The Sangheili caught a nod of acknowledgement from one of the gargantuan creatures.

His hooves thumped a rhythmic cadence as the warrior came to a halt behind the command chair. The Sangheili dropped to one knee, lowered his head, and placed one arm over the leg not touching the floor. Voro maintained this position for several moments, his hearts beating in anticipation of new orders. The veteran swordsman had not been sent to the planets surface, something which greatly vexed him. It was his greatest desire at that moment to participate in this campaign to eradicate the human presence, the one which now decided the course of the war.

"You summoned me, your Excellency?" asked the Operation's officer in a respectful glorifying tone. The Ship Master had been responsible for destroying two of the human's warships.

"I did 'Refumai." came the low and collected response from Ship Master Fidelias 'Nosolee. Fidelias and Voro had an unusual relationship, they had both served together in the same unit for several years when the Fleet of Particular Justice had been formed. The pair had saved one another's lives time and time again to point where they had stopped mentioning it. "I have a mission for you my Brother."

Despite the slight overtones of familiarity in the Ship Master's voice Voro kept his head down, only raising it when Fidelias had turned to face him and clasped his right shoulder. Voro slowly stood to his full height before bringing his right fist to his left shoulder, his head only slightly bowed and his eyes meeting those of 'Nosolee. At an unspoken signal Voro brought his arm to his side and lifted his head to its normal position.

"What is the honor you offer me Ship Master?"

"Sport."

"What am I to hunt for the Glory of Sangheilios?"

"Demon."

"My men?"

"I trust you, and only you this glory my friend."

"Thank you Fidelias."

"Voro 'Refumai I want this Demon captured to serve as a symbol to the humans when we reach their home world. I care not how long it takes, I care not whether or not you need return to the _Bane of Heresy_ for healing. I trust you to make sure both return to us."

"It shall be done your Excellency."

* * *

_**AN: Yes I updated. I know I promised you guys a Christmas Update only, and I will. I don't consider this a real update, but only in the sense that I originally did not include this in Chapter 10. Originally the chapter would have opened with Leo searching for supplies in the small town I mentioned, but then I started thinking about what I'd cut out to have it start there. **_

_**Then I decided I wanted to update this story, but not advance the plot until my real chapter comes out on Christmas Eve. So then bam, I decided to make a filler chapter that you can or can't consider as a part of the story proper. **_

_**Yes. Voro 'Refumai is going to be a main character in the story, as well as its sequels. The way I see it, if Chief has Arby as his former enemy/ new ally, then Six deserves one if he ever made it off of Reach. And so 'Refumai was born of my own mind. **_

_**Also, who wants to know the girl who will eventually be Leo's other half. So to speak. Well, two girls. But I will never reveal one, HAHAHAHAHAH! **_

_**Also I want to know how much power I have to actually have any influence. I want to test out how many people listen to me. Therefore I'd appreciate it if you guys would check out this link to the you tube group MindFusionIndustries. **__**.com/user/MindFusionIndustries**__** I'm a writer for this group as well as another. **__**.com/user/VIIproductionsp/u**__** to be honest I'm more VIIPro affiliated. Also, if any of you guys watch one of VIIPro's video's and comment on it, I will personally throw in any random ass scene you want into my Halo Fan Fic series. Probably won't be in Noble Life, but it will be thrown in. **_

_**For Example: Its after First Strike, Leo, Jun, Jorge, and Johnson, (Wow, maybe I should've named Leo Jared instead) all head to a bar on Luna(the moon). While there about half a dozen girls hit on Leo, who being the relatively inexperience socializing sort doesn't pick up on their subtle messages. Then Johnson comes along and leaves with four of the girls on his arms before the Spartan's notices he's gone. **_

_**Also, Please check out my latest attempt at Star Wars, Mandalorian's Mind. **_

_**2nd AN: I got rid of chapter 9 and replaced it with this one. If you got a message saying this was updated, sorry. 12/19/10**_


	10. Chapter 10

_Soldier's Heart_

_**B312**_

_**1532 Hours, September 3, 2552, Two Days after Wide Spread Planetary Glassing**_

Leo stood as still as if he had been sculpted out of a colorful type of stone. His gaze hidden behind the black visor was narrowed and directed at one direction in particular. His right fist tightened itself even more than it had been just moments earlier.

In the distance a plume of smoke rose several hundred feet into the red skies of Reach. If one were to follow the path from whence the smoke was coming from they would have come across a terrible sight; at least if that person was not a SPARTAN that is. For Spartan-B312 it was another slap in the face, another crystal clear example of where humanity had failed once again.

The small village he and the two girls under his protection had intended to come to for additional supplies was burning. It was not the burning caused by the Covenant warships plasma weaponry that much was obviously certain. If it had been then the entire area would have been glassed for miles and not the small area of the village.

In place that hellish vision of the invading alien onslaught was something, in the Spartan's mind at least, much worse.

His augmented vision easily picked up the small figures darting to and from the three and half dozen buildings. Occasionally he saw faint flashes of light, quickly followed by one or two bodies collapsing to the ground like rag dolls. Focusing more than he had been when first discovering this the Spartan soon heard the faint screams of villagers and the crack or gunfire.

Even in the face of genocide humans were still fighting one another, still _killing, _no _butchering, _each other. If doing so wouldn't have alerted his charges that something was amiss, Noble Six would have vigorously screamed to the winds how foolish they were. Only idiots would fight for the key to a home while said home burned around them. And burn the village did.

He felt a familiar tug pull at him, urging him to run down and save as many people as he could. That urge was promptly silenced by his SPARTAN discipline and logic. Leo took the situation before him in stoic silence as both Rozsa and Sara caught up to him. They were silent for a moment as their own eyes could clearly see the smoke rising. Perhaps they could even make out a faint glow of the fires.

"The aliens?" asked Sara in a low tone. Unconsciously the Reach brunette pulled the smaller child closer to her in a vain attempt to hide the scene from Rozsa's sight.

"No." was the simple and blunt answer. She glanced at him for a brief moment, a scowl on her face, before her eyes flinched as her mind seemed to follow the meaning of his statement. "We have always fought one another. . . People never forget what they come to know. Why change even in the face of annihilation, when death is so much easier?" Rozsa flinched at the cold tone that flowed from the Spartan's voice projector. Sara noticing the movement soon turned the child around before wrapping her arms around her.

"_Nem lesz baj, ne félj. _It'll be all right little one." she said reassuringly to the raven haired eight year old. The Reach native looked at him with a gaze that would make any sane man instantly apologize for any transgressions. Unfortunately for her, and even to him, Leo was no longer fully sure of his own sanity. He matched her glare with a near deathly silence and chilling reflection of her own face.

"Spartans do not hide from the truth, yet we merely never speak of lies." he said sagely with a wisdom that suited a soldier of over hundreds of battles. Sara for once visibly flinched away from the Spartan before glaring back at him.

"Then never mention a soldier's truth to a child. For one whose kind are said to be the best of humanity, you lack the compassion to hide the evils of life from Rozsa."

"No matter what you say, that is what I am." Leo said simply before turning his head to look in the direction of the village.

"I. . . I-I don't want to be lied to Sara. _Anyu,_" the quiet voice of Rozsa seemed to choke back slightly, catching the attention of the two young adults. "My mother, said never tell lies. Mister Spartan can't tell lies, so that means he's good. And your good, and good people don't argue with good people. So please, just please stop."

The words of the Army Captain came back to him at that moment. It amazed Leo that such innocence could still find some small refuge in the heart of a child. Even as Reach burned around her, as she lost so much to the Covenant, Rozsa still held onto the beliefs that held no place in this time.

What shocked him of her short statement was that it made him suddenly remember the feeling he had felt earlier. The desire to help the villagers renewed itself many times over. The lieutenant found himself struggling internally not to go and do so. He reminded himself of the two girls near him, and of the danger they faced with him away from them.

Then he told himself that the village may still hold some decent weaponry, and if need be, the humans shooting at each other down there had weapons as well.

Unable to stop himself Leo felt his hand grasp the M6G magnetically attached to his right leg. The TACPAD had not detected any Covenant heat signatures in the area. The only threat to the safety of both Sara and Rozsa was obviously the men and women in the village. If Leo truly wanted to protect him then he would have to enter the village and stop the fighting. A grim smirk crossed his features still hidden by the black visor. The Spartan turned to look at the girls to his left, saw the trembling in Rozsa's form.

Every single fiber of his body screamed that it was the right thing to do in light of the situation. But leaving them for even a minute would have left them utterly defenseless until he returned. Just the kind of mental problems that always seemed to fall to the Spartans of Noble Team.

Leo detached the M6G from its resting place and then quickly brought it in front of the black visor. His gloved hands moved with machine like efficiency to ensure the weapon was fully functional. The Spartan promptly switched the safety on the weapon once he was satisfied, the clicking sound alerting the two he was protecting. Leo kept the M6G held in his right hand as he turned to look to the left.

"The village may have some weapons smuggled in by Reach Militia. As a soldier I cannot allow those weapons to be wasted during a battle in which they are desperately needed. As your guardian I _will not_ allow anything that will certainly aid me in keeping you two safe to slip past me. Sara I need you to double back about a hundred meters, there are a cluster of rocks that will offer something to hide out until I return," the Spartan then turned to look at the child whose face bordered on shedding tears. "And I _will_ come back. I won't abandon you until you are safely off Reach. You will live no matter what."

With that the Spartan looked in the direction of the village. Slipping into the combat mentality of the SPARTAN program, the lieutenant soon began sprinting towards his destination.

* * *

_**1204 (Human Time) Type-52 Troop Carrier**_

Voro watched the burning land pass by as his dropship flew over the now dying landscape. In his eyes he saw a lush world, once teeming with life, and its natural resources. He had seen the human ship yards on other planets before they were destroyed. This world however had the most numerous amount of such yards spread throughout the land, as well as the largest. That meant that this world was rich with ship building metals, metals which _should _have been used to build more ships for the Sangheili.

The Swordsman was a member of a small group of his people: The Council of Singular Defense. Voro and several dozen mid to high ranked Sangheili were a part of this group for one reason alone, something that was an extension of the rest of their kind's belief. The Council had been formed in secret once the Jiralhanae had been folded into the unified force that was the Holy Covenant. The Council consisted of warriors, both Covenant Military and not, Kaidon heads of several Sangheilios states, and several Sangheili exiled to the outermost regions of Covenant space.

They were all of the belief that the Jiralhanae would, sooner or later, eventually revolt against the Covenant leadership. Their primitive tribal minds would accept subservient roles that they held for only so long. Some of its younger members also believed that they would be led by a rebel faction of the Prophets. While Voro thought that the idea of rebel Prophets was quiet laughable, he did know that those Sangheili did have some merit in their thoughts.

Fidelias, his oldest friend and Ship Master of the _Bane of Heresy_, had once confided a secret to him. The Sangheili had witnessed several of the more senior Prophets argue over plans that they had been left out of. Plans that the Hierarchs themselves knew. . . And would not share with those they perceived their lesser. Voro could see that if that incident had not been the only one of its kind how it could give the wrong idea.

Nevertheless, this world would have been unbelievably useful to the Council. They could use their collective political powers to place a Sangheili governor from their ranks to control the planet. From there they would secretly ship some of the planets resources to far off Sangheili controlled factories, which were commanded by those whom had fallen out of favor of the Hierarchs Truth and Mercy. It seemed only the Prophet of Regret was left out, mainly because those Sangheili had been under _his_ own orders and he refused to take blame.

Voro closed his eyes for a moment in deep thought. He vividly remembered the tales told to him by the elders of his Lineage. Tales of Sangheili who lived before the Covenant, of warriors who protected their kin no matter who they would cross. _That _was exactly the kind of leaders his people needed if they were to save the Covenant from the primitive and foolish Jiralhanae. Sangheili who did not fear the displeasure of their Prophets for taking action to protect their people. Unfortunately those were the Sangheili who were few in number, or tended to be sent to die on the front lines before they could truly take any course in their desires.

The Special Operations Officer had chosen to travel lightly. He carried only his blade, a Kig-Yar's carbine, a half dozen grenades, and an additional sword as well. The Demon would likely have few to no weapons at its own disposal. Voro would fight him in the same fashion, his honor as a Swordsman demanded he do such. The Sangheili Swordsman in him desired a challenge as well. If the Demons were as capable warriors as many of his people believed, then he would fight it as an equal.

What better way to prove he was the superior warrior than to defeat it in a duel? Voro would battle his target as a true Swordsman would, a struggle of blades. His blood ran hot at the thought of crossing swords with his prey.

"Operations Officer, we are approaching the Demon's last known location," said the voice of the ship's co- pilot. Voro narrowed his eyes slightly at the tone he detected. _Fear_

Turning to face the direction of the pilots the Sangheili swordsman gripped the handle of his blade. The Swordsman made his way into the cockpit, ignored the pilot's question of what he was doing. . . And rid his people of the coward's head.

"The Demon is not to be feared, for he will be the symbol of our total victory over the human filth," Voro said coldly as the pilot stared at his now dead assistant, annoyance in his eyes.

"You should have kept your fears to yourself. Now I must fly alone, and leave the weapons without a commander. Fool."

"Yes. He was, dispose of the body in what way you see fit Pilot. You may return to the _Bane of Heresy _once I am on the ground. Please aid our brothers in whatever way His Excellency sees fit." said Voro while returning to stare out at the surface of the world.

"By your leave, Voro 'Refumai." the pilot said in respect. It was then that the slight overtones of the 'Refum line reached his ears. Voro felt his mandibles click together in annoyance. It had been some time since he came across another of his kin, however distant from his family. He did not enjoy having to treat them as though he was superior to them, they were of the same blood.

Soon the dropship slowed to a halt, hovering over a large crater. The crater was several dozen feet deep, and easily a quarter of a kilometer across. Voro narrowed his eyes at the sight, more in disgust than anger. The humans, throughout entire course of the battle, had refused to use their orbital defense weapons on their precious planet. Yet despite its obvious ability to cause great damage to Covenant forces they had never utilized their greatest weapons.

Had this been a Sangheili world any sane Fleet Master would have used all resources at his disposal to defeat the invaders. No matter how damaged the planet would become it would still be _their _planet.

Without another word Voro was sent down to the edge of the crater by the pilot. The experienced warrior began to determine where his target had escaped to. As he searched the interior of the crater Voro began to feel a slight amount of respect for the Demon he was hunting. His prey had obviously been surrounded and about to be killed, that much was obvious. Half a battalion of Covenant troops, as well as land and air support, was not something that could be beaten in a head on assault.

That was impossible and his quarry knew it. With that knowledge the Demon had somehow sent a command to one of the damaged orbital weapons, that was still somewhat functional, and ordered it to fire on his position. Any Sangheili would understand the desire to die surrounded by as many of their own dead foes. That was why Voro knew the Demon had somehow survived.

Even with the knowledge of impending death a true warrior never accepted it. Always they would look for ways to survive, even if their only chance was to charge into overwhelming enemy numbers in an attempt to escape being encircled. With that in mind Voro began looking for anything _he himself _would have used to survive the orbital weapon.

Walking on the outskirts of the crater Voro came to a halt. Before him was the edge of a cliff face, and nearly a mile of angled rock wall to the bottom. Most Sangheili wouldn't have been able to survive jumping off the edge. Which was why Voro knew the human had done so. Beneath the helmet he wore, Voro twisted his two bottom mandibles to tap a point beneath them. A secure communications link to _Bane of Heresy_ was quickly established.

"Operations Officer." came the commanding voice of Fidelias. Despite being on the planet and far from his comrade Voro still bowed his head. His respect for the Ship Master was great enough that he did so for him only. . . Not even a Prophet held the same amount of respect from him. "What have you found on the surface?"

"Your Excellency, I have arrived at the Demon's last known location."

"I did not ask for your location Voro." spoke the Ship Master in a slightly amused tone.

"Apologies your Excellency," Voro said quickly in an attempt to avoid embarrassment. "The Demon was indeed surrounded by our forces, as you said. Our forces were annihilated by a strike from one of the humans orbital defense weapons. The Demon targeted his own position."

"So the Demons have _some _honor after all. Continue."

"There is a cliff face very near to the impact point as well, Your Excellency." the silence that followed was very familiar to Voro. There was a reason for why Fidelias had become a Ship Master, despite his own Lineage's low position in the overall balance of Sangheili states. He had a gift for understanding the dozens of possible courses during key moments in battle, and determining which were most valuable in terms of intelligence.

"If the Demon intended to die it would have fought on, bringing more of our forces into the kill range. You believe that it chose to leap from the cliffs, do you not?" asked the experienced Ship Master.

"Indeed Your Excellency."

"Voro, as acting commander of all forces in this system I am giving you full autonomy. Until you capture the Demon you are to follow your own instincts. No other forces will be deployed to the area you are currently in, unless you request them. I have the utmost faith that you will not abuse this freedom I have entrusted to you."

"By the Writ of Union, I shall not fail in this most holy task." Voro responded immediately. His brother trusted him completely and he would not fail him. Not a moment after the communications line was cut, Voro followed the Demon's example.

* * *

_**AN: Christmas is in Six days people. SIX! Notice that particular fact? In honor of Noble Six, I have decided that today is an excellent day to begin my series of updates for Noble Life. **_

_**Every two days I will unleash on to Fan another chapter in my story. I have three chapters typed and ready, which will lead to the climax of the first arc of my story. How does, "Will to Live" sound for a Story Arcs name? **_

_**Anyway this does not meant that the story is ending, far from it. Noble Life won't be ending until we get to the end of First Strike. **_

_**Also has anyone seen Bungie's Holiday Picture? Its awesome and inspired me to type up my own Holiday One-shot. I'll put that up on Christmas Eve, but I will say this. Its way out there in the AU definition. It is a story for that picture, therefore the Chief, Noble, The Squad, and certain **_**nearly**_** normal humans and aliens, will be in it. **_

_**Crazy confusing Christmas Eve anybody? **_

_**I'm ending this on a good note. This will be how my updates will come to this story from now on. I will type up several chapters, finish those up, and then go on an updating blitz for the chapters I have written. So you may not see an update for a month, and then BAM! Update every other day for a week. **_

_**Oh, and anyone see the trailer for the new Pirates of the Caribbean, On Stranger Tides? "Captain" Jack Sparrow, in London. Oh boy, guard the Queens bed chambers British Troops! Lol. **_


	11. Chapter 11

_Setting up the Field _

_**B312**_

_**1540 Hours, September 3, 2552, Two Days after Wide Spread Planetary Glassing**_

Spartan B312 sprinted at his fastest speed towards his destination. The village was gradually growing nearer to him, the true damage finally coming into view. From where he had originally caught sight of the village the fire had appeared relatively small to the Spartan. Noble Six should have guessed that his originally assumption would have been wrong. Things were never easy for Noble Team. . . Even if said team consisted of only _one_ confirmed member.

The village was dwarfed in his vision by the orange inferno covering the small Reach settlement. Not a single building was spared from its fate of being torched by several of the planet's last surviving humans. Humans killing other humans, and destroying their own creations. Six scoffed at the bitter irony that was the fate of humanity as they saw their own demise. The lieutenant had never felt more disgust at anything than at that moment. His SPARTAN training overcame his own emotions, and the Spartan III soon found himself in the emotionless calm that was a perfect Super Soldier.

At the moment he was not a human; he was a sword of the human race, a weapon whose purpose was to protect two civilians.

Dimly as he neared the burning village his mind began to bring up nearly forgotten memories. Memories of the first mission he had been sent on that involved killing a human. After joining Noble, Six had foolishly assumed that he would never have to kill another human being, he couldn't believe how wrong he had been.

As the lone Spartan neared the sound of gunfire became more pronounced in its intensity. Enough that he could make out the sound of what models the murderous band of humans were using. The lieutenant was surprised to hear the distinctive sound of several M6 Series hand guns, as well as the clack of MA3 Assault Rifles. What promised to prove most difficult was the short burst that sounded like an HMG-38.

Noble Six felt a scowl cross his hidden features. The weapons he was identifying were inaccessible to any civilian contractors. Not just on Reach, but any UNSC colony world. The fact that they were being used in the village told him that their users had obtained them from the black market. Which meant that he was not dealing with a desperate band of civilians attempting to steal what they needed.

He was dealing with the Reach Insurrectionists, rebels who opposed the so called "oppression" of the colony worlds. The Spartan III forced himself to run even faster than before, the desire to eliminate the rebels increasing with each step. After all that was the original purpose behind a SPARTAN Program in the first place.

Approaching the Northern part of the village the Spartan slowly came to a halt. With the experience gained from tens of dozens of engagements, he began to list what he could see in the village that was useful information. The first thing the soldier noticed was the structural condition of the buildings. Even from his location, no more than 500 meters from the farthest off fires, Six could see that all of the buildings were from structurally sound. With a simple glance over he knew that it would take little effort to bring the buildings down. That meant he could change the battle field to whatever best suited him, or collapse a building over the Insurrectionists.

His augmented eyesight caught notice of the half dozen fuel tanks scattered throughout the village. Perfect for causing quick distractions and start an ambush. There also appeared to be nearly two dozen of Reach's civilian vehicles to provide excellent cover. . . So long as one avoided shooting up their fuel tanks that is. He also took notice of the current inhabitants of the village.

Leo soon began to take count of all the armed rebels that came into his vision. With the patience of a mountain he counted twenty two different armed individuals. While doing so the Spartan could not help but notice the bodies _not_ moving.

Strewn at points all over the Reach village were nearly three dozen murdered civilians. He punched the ground as he saw that several of the bodies were also children no larger than Rozsa. With aid from the continents recent rain showers blood ran in the small village pathways. The dead Reach settlers were having their bodies picked at by several of the Insurrectionists, looting for God knew what.

He shook his head at how far his species could fall while they faced the invading Covenant.

Shaking off the train of thought, the Spartan quickly came back to observing the village. The forest he was hiding in ended about fifty meters from the closest group of three rebels. Deciding to take action, Leo parted with the fallen tree that he had looked over the state of the village. Stealthily the lieutenant stuck close to the trees, his armored formed making no sound in the silent forest.

As he neared the edge Leo caught sight of another Insurrectionist approaching the trio near him. The Spartan estimated the distance between the rebels and himself to be about seventy meters. It would take him a handful of seconds to reach them, time in which they had the chance to open fire on him there by alerting their comrades to his presence. Despite knowing that they would prove little to no difficulty the Spartan refused to take any chance.

* * *

_**1532 (Human Time) Kilometer from small Reach Village**_

_**Commando**_

Voro 'Refumai stood on top of a large rock formation, the carbine he had carried previously had strapped to his back now in his hands. Shouldering the weapon the Operations Officer had begun scanning the area before him. Voro allowed himself to relax his guard slightly with the knowledge his Active Camouflage was functioning perfectly.

An hour after having landed at the crater Voro had soon found a trail. The trail was only a few days old, still fresh enough for him to obtain certain details. He found that instead of one pair of tracks the Sangheili discovered a trio instead. While curious Voro could not hide his joy at knowing the two other humans would slow the Demon immensely.

Following the trail he had came to a large creature of the planet. The beast's body was cold and showed many injuries which were obviously inflicted from Covenant weaponry. Curiously he found a blade imbedded in the enormous beast's skull, clearly the cause of its death. No true Sangheili would have dared to leave a blade behind like that. Which meant that the Demon had been responsible for killing the creature. They were the only humans with the physical prowess to kill such a creature from such close ranged battle.

Following a poorly hidden trail Voro had arrived at a makeshift campsite inside a cave.

A human made piece of equipment left behind in a damaged state. From there the trail had grown cold to the Sangheili Swordsman. Reluctantly he had contacted the _Bane of Heresy_ and asked for the location of any human settlements near the cave. Thankfully the ship's scanners detected a small concentration of human survivors several hours from Voro's position. Relying on the fact that additional humans would slow the Demon, Voro quickly made his way to a position far from the human village.

The Swordsman came to a sight that caused his disgust in the human species to increase immeasurably.

From his position Voro watched as a large group of humans began to massacre another. The armed band thoroughly executed the entire human population of the village. What caused Voro to growl in hatred was the fact that not a single one of the village's population held any weapons to defend themselves.

Voro felt a desire to contact a warship and request the village and several miles of its surrounding area be glassed. However he fought that wishful way of thinking down in light of his mission. If the Swordsman was right then the Demon would soon arrive at the village looking for supplies. Despite this Voro came to a decision about the state of the village whether or not the Demon arrived. He would enter it himself and eradicate the human filth; a fitting warm up for his duel against the Demon itself.

Looking through the carbine's sights Voro caught a slight movement in the forest near the village. The Swordsman kept one eye locked on the area he had noticed the flash of movement, while the other peered continued to observe the village through the scope of his weapon. Experience had taught the veteran warrior that it never aided soldiers to be fully distracted by the smallest of details.

Voro continued to watch as the last of the human villagers were killed. The entire settlement now burned a bright orange inferno on the horizon. Smoke filled up a large portion of the Sangheili's own vision. He could clearly make out the forms of several of the humans raise their weapon to the air and begin to fire.

Voro snapped his mandibles in annoyance at the humans vain attempts at real glory. They had not won a victory and they lacked even basic discipline, truly little more than armed rabble. The Operations Officer was genuinely glad that the humans soldiers were nothing like the ones still alive in the village. Battling those humans would give a Sangheili at least _some _honor, where as these would not be worth even meeting them face to face.

Once again his eyes caught another instant of movement. His mandibles twitching in anticipation Voro turned the scope of the carbine on that area of the forest. The Operations Officer moved his sight from tree to tree until he caught sight of a slight reflection of light. Focusing his own vision on the immediate vicinity of the reflection, Voro's eyes widened slightly in pleasant surprise.

A figure was pressed to the side of a fallen tree, also apparently observing the village as well. He saw the large human raise its fist before quickly dropping it to the ground. Voro narrowed his eyes as a large crack appeared over the tree bark. Any doubts as to the identity of what he was looking at vanished as it pulled away from its cover.

His target stood taller than any human he had ever seen. Its body was covered in a powerfully looking emerald green armor, with small amounts of gold added to its coloring. A black visor hid the humans face from his sight, yet caused a slight nervousness to enter Voro's state of mind. It was unarmed as far as the Officer could tell, but there no longer was any doubt. This was the Demon he had been instructed to capture by Fidelias.

Intent on observing the capabilities of his quarry Voro continued to watch as the Demon neared the village. To his own great surprise it appeared as though the Demon intended to attack the humans in the village. While still somewhat curious as to why, Voro continued to watch as his target began its attack on several of the planets last remaining human inhabitants. His anticipation grew as he watched the sight before him.

Voro continued to watch the Demon's movement with the patience of the greatest of hunters. The prey may be different, and it needed to be taken alive, but this was a hunt nevertheless. The Operations Officer had been an excellent hunter of his home world's rodent population. The same skills he learned as youth were as useful today as they had been so many decades earlier.

His own keen eyesight clearly caught sight of the same practiced motions he himself sometimes used. Approach your prey to nearest of your abilities without revealing your presence. Wait until you are certain of the number of your targets kind accompany it. Then search for the devices nature itself gave to you, and then find way to use it to distract your goal from its unseen hunter. Remain motionless until your instincts call out to you, predatory nature revealing the _true _moment of success. Then unleash your full might on your prey, and kill without hesitation.

Voro had spent time around several of the Prophets and, with the utmost reluctance, Jiralhanae as well. With the knowledge he had gained from such experiences Voro knew that if he had a mammalian face that he would have a smirk on it.

This Demon was like him in a way. Both hunters, both warriors of shadow, masters of patience, and most of all it was a worthy opponent to face in a duel. The Demon held the same type of calculative mind many Sangheili in the Special Operations Branch of the Covenant Military had themselves. To see something so similar to his sect of the Sangheili Military in a human soldier as well however. . . Was exhilarating, especially when Voro thought of how very near to their battle he was.

However, if Voro was going to be honest with himself, the Sangheili Swordsman was somewhat disappointed by the Demon's appearance. With the way his quarry was posturing itself near the humans still in the village, Voro was certain of its own desires for those humans. The Demon was about to launch an assault on the other humans still scouring the remains of the settlement, and even scavenging the dead as well. That would mean the Voro would unfortunately be unable to exterminate the filth himself.

Despite his mild regret Voro was also incredibly pleased at the prospect of observing the Demon's true capabilities. Tales of skill from some of his more experienced Sangheili brothers were encouragement to fight at best. The frightened whispers from the lowly Unggoy were terribly unhelpful and sometimes led to several of the lowly creatures lying on the ground; Voro could take only so much talk of fear and cowardice. What few pieces of video that held some amount of the Demons was obviously lacking and a poor way to gauge their strengths and weaknesses.

The Sangheili Swordsman felt some amusement as he turned the scope to bring up the sight of four humans to himself. They were picking at one of the bodies that laid unmoving on the muddy planet soil as though they were perfectly safe; completely and utterly oblivious to fact that they're within a true hunters kill range. Voro felt almost apologetic for them as he watched as they began speaking to one another in an annoying human tongue.

He briefly entertained the wish for a Special Operations Unggoy to be at his side. Those members of the diminutive race that was simple cannon fodder were surprisingly quite easy to be around. The fact that the tiny creatures had a surprising ability to understand human languages would quickly sate his mild curiosity as to what was being said.

No matter what race a soldier was simply by just being a part of Special Operations they all became part of a loosely connected family. The dangers faced while serving as such a soldier were universal and did not distinguish between the most powerful, or the least skilled. Voro even had made the acquaintance of several of his fellow Special Operations Sangheili who made it a point of protecting the Unggoy serving beneath them with the same dedication they showed to their own brothers.

Especially one whom he respected with nearly as much, and admired, of the same respect as the _Bane of Heresy_'s Ship Master. A Sangheili Special Operations Officer by the name of Rtas 'Vadumee with whom he had briefly served under before his own promotion to the Officer ranks. Rtas was a true Sangheili in everyway way who carried himself with the same confidence, and held the same personal standards as a full blooded Swordsman, at all times. The last Voro had heard of the 'Vandum was that he was very near to becoming the Special Operations Commander of the Covenant Military.

With a snaking movement of his neck Voro stopped his own musings. He was there to observe the Demon and then plan his order of attack. It was _not _to reminisce over the Sangheili whom he himself held up as idols.

The Operations Officer took his eyes off the Demon for an instant when he had seen a small amount of black appear between rock formations similar to what he was on at the moment. From this distance he could make out the basic human shape, and then another taller human appear as well. The second quickly pulled the smaller human back behind the rocks.

Voro blinked a single eye several times, his personal habit of how he reacted to small surprises. Two additional humans that appeared to be in the same the direction the Demon had come from. The Sangheili wondered whether or not the two were the pair of humans the Demon had taken with him. His fast thinking mind began to formulate plans for the two of them.

Experience had been a cruel instructor to his people in their entire existence at many times in history. From those experiences all Sangheili had developed the unconscious action of forming fall back plans on reflex. The Demon would not have taken the two humans with it had they not been important; either to the species itself or simply important to the Demon solely. Perhaps the taller one was its mate, and the smaller its offspring? Regardless of what status the two humans held they would be useful should Voro fail in his first encounter with the Demon.

Immediately the Operations Officer returned his hard and calculating gaze back towards his quarry. _A true warrior will have learned victory by seeing with their own eyes how his foe has achieved it_. Such was the quote of Fal 'Chavam, the disgraced Sangheili whose actions were the reason that the title of Arbiter had become a post for only the most dishonored yet skilled of his people. The heretic's actions were something all Sangheili were disgusted by, but his skill as warrior was legend to all. Many Sangheili followed his own teachings of how war was best fought, and all duels were conducted by the traditional rules first made by his clan.

As a true Sangheili Swordsman it was his own duty to learn from his opponent before challenging him to a duel. Whether or not the Demon deserved his respect was about to be determined as he watched. Voro watched as it picked several stones off the ground and covered them with its hands one by one. Voro's eyes both blinked several times again.

He recognized the tactic was vaguely similar to what Sangheili children would do when they began to hunt the small rodents that inhabited Sangheilios with them. It served as a sign of ingenuity and a test of early strength. First the youths would chose several well sized rocks from the ground. Then they would find a way to locate the weakest points on the rocks. Once that was done it was a matter of using the proper amount of strength to break the rocks into sharper more angled shapes. The result were several sharp throwing weapons that could pierce the rodents hides easily.

Curious as to what the Demon had planned, Voro returned his eyes to the scope. The Demon was proving more and more worthy of warranting the attention Fidelias had given it, and Voro's desire to fight it.

* * *

_**B312**_

_**1545 Hours, September 3, 2552, Two Days after Wide Spread Planetary Glassing**_

Leo felt the small weight shift in his left fist as he continued to watch the Insurrectionists. The Spartan wanted to avoid using his only weapon for now. The M6G held only four rounds in its possession and the soldier intended to save them until he absolutely needed it. Considering the positions of both himself and the four rebels that moment was clearly not then.

Noble Team's sole known survivor was no more than seventy meters from the Insurrectionist, all of whom were busy talking while picking at what little the dead Reach civilians had on their bodies. Leo was well hidden from their sights and had a clear view of them himself. The Spartan had also made several improvised weapons to use in this particular situation. Sharpened rocks while primitive were still very dangerous to unarmored human flesh. And the Reach rebels were obviously unarmored aside from outdoor hunters vests.

With his right hand Leo picked up on of the seven rocks he had sharpened into deadly weapons. Tossing it up several times to test its weight the lieutenant was quickly satisfied with his own creation. The angle he had sharpened the stones to made them resemble unattached arrow heads now. With a grim smirk Leo snatched the rock out of the air. They were perfect for what he intended to use them for.

Pressing his back against the bark of the tree Leo placed four of the rocks in his right hand. He lightly palmed each of them in an attempt to force his will on their direction. The rebels deserved no mercy for what they had done to the small village and its people.

With lightning speed Leo rolled himself to the right of the tree, stopping in a crouched position. With reaction time only another Spartan could match he soon threw one of the rocks towards the last of the rebels to have arrived. The man was still standing and he had a vicious smirk on his face while he stood over the body of an elderly woman. Leo was very satisfied when the rock struck the man in the uncovered throat. The stone penetrated the skin easily and traveled out of the of the other side of his neck, the spinal cord severed and the vocal cords destroyed the man fell to the ground silent and paralyzed, blood flowing from the open wound.

Before his comrades could even notice what had happened Leo had already thrown another of his rocks. This one struck the rebel next to the first who had died. That man had the unfortunate luck of being struck in the back of the skull, dying instantly as his body lurched forward. As he died the other two finally began to process what was happening. There own minds to slow to follow what the Spartan was doing, or even know _he _was there.

Leo launched another stone aimed at a rebels heart. That Insurrectionist was launched several short feet from the speed of the vicious throw. The man quickly went into shock as he made a show of touching the now fast growing stain of his blood.

As the last rebel rose up and attempted to shout an alarm Leo threw the fourth stone. He aimed at the man's throat, exactly where the vocal cords were located. The Spartan then broke into a dead run as the rebel was struck. The force of the throw had greatly unbalanced the Insurrectionist and he fell to the ground clutching at his neck as blood flowed.

Leo closed the distance in mere seconds, and as the rebel finally became aware of the approaching mass of steel it was too late. The lieutenant kicked the Insurrectionists rifle from him with enough force to snap his entire forearm into several large fractures. As he silently screamed in agony the Spartan's hand quickly flew and covered his head. With a flash of barely controlled anger Leo stood up to his full height applying pressure on the mans head slowly. The rebels working hand grabbed at Leo's armored forearm viciously in a vain attempt to obtain freedom.

Leo held the man up still gradually applying more pressure. The rebels legs swung wildly striking at his well built armor, likely breaking several bones in the action. Noble Six narrowed his eyes on the rebel. The Spartan tilted his head to look at the three civilian bodies surrounding him. One was an elderly woman likely in her late eighties, a woman who should have died in her sleep painlessly. The other two snapped what little control he still held.

Spartans were masters of controlling their emotions at all times. But once the augmentations, training, and conditioning were taken away they were still baseline humans. And all humans were capable of unpredictable actions when placed under unknown variables. It was simple human nature to feel emotion, and Leo's emotionless wall had slowly begun to crack as the Battle of Reach passed.

The sight that was responsible for the sudden and uncontrolled rage felt by the Spartan was tragic. A middle aged woman lay in the mud curled up into a ball, blood flowing from a large wound on her back. Clutched between her arms in a protective manner was small child, a boy no more than four or five. Both were equally unmoving.

Leo applied even more pressure on the Insurrectionist's skull, enough that he heard the crack of bone. The rebels writhed in even more pain, his hand attempting to strike at the Spartans helmet.

"You bastards." he said menacingly, his anger detectable to his own ears unbelievably easily. The rebel's movement stopped and his body tensed in fear. Good. "You _murder_ and entire village even as Reach is invaded, as the world is burning all around you. You kill your own species, damn you! The Covenant is doing that well enough themselves!" Leo lifted the rebel up even higher and the mans struggles began again with a renewed sense of urgency. "I am going to enjoy this. Just this once, I am going to become the Reaper again. You bastards deserve it."

The Spartan then promptly threw the man to the ground, his hand still on the rebels head. Noble Six pushed it into the muddy earth harder and harder. He only stopped as an even louder crack was heard and the mans struggles ceased. Blood flowed from between his fingers in a flood as he kept the face covered. Slowly he pulled back his hand and stared at the crushed human face no longer staring back at him. The skull had caved into itself and the sight no longer resembled anything remotely human.

"Life was wasted on you and your kind. I intend to take it back."


	12. Chapter 12

_First Contact_

_**1556 (Human Time) Kilometer from Small Reach Village**_

_**Commando**_

Voro 'Refumai, Sangheili Swordsman and Special Operations Officer of the Covenant Special Operations Branch, felt his eyes blink several times in surprise. What he had just played witness to was truly enlightening to the soldier he was. The Sangheili had observed as his target, one of the feared Demons, brutally dealt with the last of the small band of humans he had just made contact with.

To say it was not a clean kill would be a grave lack of imagery for what the human had been put through.

Regardless of his lack of respect for the Demon's last kill Voro continued to watch. The three other dead humans had been eliminated in a most ingenious attack. To the Demon's complete lack of knowledge, it also provided Voro with a more tactical view of his quarry. The fact that it had not used the weapon it carried strapped to its leg was the most obvious. The Demon clearly had very little ammunition for that small weapon and as such avoided using it. At the moment it was searching the bodies of the latest dead for a new weapon, stopping its search as it picked up one that resembled the human military's primary assault weapon somewhat.

Curious. Where the Demon had approached the humans it had just attacked in a calm state of mind, its present movements held tell tall signs of controlled anger. A warrior rarely allowed themselves to feel such an overpowering emotion that often clouded their judgments. The few times they would often result in them making too many mistakes and soon losing both life and honor. The Demon walked with great anger clutching at its mind, yet did not fall to its temptation and fall into a mindless rage more befitting a wild beast.

The Sangheili briefly removed its gaze from the carbines scope. Voro twisted his arms to the right slightly. The Swordsman then calmly brought the carbine back to his shoulder before peering through it. His well trained eyes easily returned to the rock formation that the two other humans were pitifully hiding in.

It was blatantly obvious that the Demon was confident that they were not being pursued and thus failed to teach any form of stealth to them. A mistake no Sangheili serving in the military would dare to make when in the presence of kin or civilians. One was always needed to be on the alert at all times for any form of danger to whatever needed protection. Apparently the Demon was a skilled and intelligent soldier, aside from that one glaring mistake.

With a quick snapping of his mandibles Voro leapt from his hidden position. It was time.

* * *

_**B312**_

_**1557 Hours, September 3, 2552, Two Days after Wide Spread Planetary Glassing**_

With his photographic memory it was only several milliseconds before Leo had checked over the Insurrectionists weapon of choice, the MA3 Assault Rifle. The rifle had clearly been smuggled onto the planet Reach as it was an illegally manufactured weapon and was punishable by several thousand credits for possession. . . Not that there was _anyone _left to collect said fines now however.

As his eyes traced over every line, every angle, every curve, every mark of the rifle, Leo repressed snorting at how pathetic the weapon seemed to him. The MA3 Assault Rifle had become obsolete with the entrance of the MA5B Inter-Changeable-Weapons-System Assault Rifle. The 5B could simply outperform the older rifle in every way. It could be modified to better fit whatever mission it was to be involved in, and stripped down for use by Special Forces. It was also slightly less accurate despite having somewhat longer range.

Holding the MA3 in his right hand the Spartan moved his wrist in small twists to get a better feel. Surprisingly the weapon felt lighter than it should have been; which meant that the weapon was like his M6G in that they held very little ammunition. With an annoyed snort Leo moved to attach the rifle to the magnetic weapon holder on his back. Once properly secured the Spartan began picking through the bodies for ammunition.

To his mild surprise he discovered that they all carried one M6A Handgun, the civilian variation of the UNSC Defense Forces standard Side Arm. The man who had the misfortune of being first on his impromptu hit list carried the M6B instead, which was a basic M6 with a KFA scope offering an x2 magnification being the only substantial difference. The discovery was the only bright part of scavenging the dead to the Spartan. The M6 series used the same type of ammunition for the most part, and could be fitted with different types of arsenals depending on mission parameters.

Leo quickly emptied the rebels' weapons of their magazines and soon placed them with the rest of the ammo he was carrying. Once the four armor piercing rounds were used up the lieutenant would have a good supply of standard 12.7mm x 40mm rounds in reserve. The Spartan Officer soon repeated his actions with the three assault rifles being carried by the other men.

Noble Six then unsheathed his combat knife calmly. Flipping it so that the blade was pinned between his index finger and his thumb, Leo debated whether to stare at it or not. The Spartan rapidly became still for several heartbeats, for the moment unwilling to look at the reflection in the blade. Eventually Leo forced himself to see his own reflection in his knife.

What he saw was not Noble Six at all, and it certainly was not Leo himself. The black impenetrable visor which held his behind it stared ominously back at him. The light rain which had begun to pour once again, drops sliding over his helmet. The now red, cloudless, skies which in the distance revealed lighting bolts striking the planet. The signs of Reach's death were all around him, and his past was staring back at the Spartan.

As he peered at the combat knife's blade he felt a rush of memories come back to him. In the reflection of the steel was the visage of a corrupted Captains' personal Grim Reaper. Memories of when he had been used as a tool flashed before his eyes as he failed to tear his own gaze away from it. The Spartan was forced to relive the darkest days of his life when he had died inside for the first time. The time when he was a Spartan in name only, not in mind, not in his will. He merely existed to take lives from those he was ordered to eliminate.

When the lieutenant found the will to sheath the knife again he still stood unmoving as before, his mind remaining in deep thought. The memories continued to play out before his eyes forcing him to remember the moments he feared most; when he actually started to _enjoy_ the fear he brought, the power he felt when he killed another human being. The feelings he had thought would forever remain buried in the back of his mind.

_But then again, _he thought to himself, _you thought you wouldn't have to kill another human being again didn't you? You thought Reach was unconquerable, and yet it fell around you. You've been proven wrong about the two of them. . . Why not this to?_

Eventually he felt both of his now fisted hands loosen up and brought them to his sides. The Spartan Officer wordlessly stared at the dead bodies of the Reach Insurrectionists still surrounding him. He had killed them without a second thought, and if he was honest there had been no real reason for their deaths. None at all save his own desire for their deaths.

His argument about the village carrying smuggled goods was moot at this point. Leo was one of the most silent Spartan III's to have ever been trained and sent out on missions. He could have easily slipped by the poorly trained rebels, entered the village, and stealthily hunted for any weapons he could find use for. That did not entail any deaths at all.

Protecting Sara and Rozsa was also a pointless attempt at justification. They could have quite easily slipped by the unknowing Insurrectionists. The scavengers that they were would have been far to busy inspecting the dead for any so called 'goods' to pillage from the now massacred village. And if what he had just done was ample proof, which he supposed it was, then he would have easily dispatched any and all rebels unfortunate enough to actually notice his charges.

And there it was that mental declaration that they were _his_. Shaking his head more vigorously than ever Leo clutched hastily removed his helmet. Taking in deep and rapid breaths of the air now filled with the scent of unchecked fire, he struggled to regain control. He fell to his knees as a vicious headache attacked him, forcing him to hold back a scream.

_This should not be happening to a Spartan dammit! Why? WHY? I've done it all so many times before, why is it affecting me now? _

"This is Captain Sanders to all recovery teams. Recovery teams, respond with status, copy?" a statically charged voice called out earning the Spartans momentary attention.

"This is Team 1, Copy that Captain Sanders. Stataus is good; Team 1 has obtained all requested supplies, Copy?"

"Team 2, reporting in sir. Status is equal to Team 1, Copy?"

"This is Captain Sanders, Copy that 1 and 2."

Silently the Spartan made his way towards the first Insurrectionist he had killed. With slow and steady hands Leo searched for the radio he was hearing. He found it tucked behind the mans left ear, a red light saying it was receiving but not sending out a signal. He placed the radio in the same spot on his own left ear listening in on the conversation the entire time.

"Team 4, respond." a pause that lasted for several short seconds. "I repeat, Team 4, status report." With a swift touch of his fingers Leo found the radio frequency.

"This is Team 4, status is bad sir." he said in a low voice.

"Team 4, elaborate."

"Encountered mild hostile UNSC resistance. Single soldier, killed three of my team. Copy?" he said slowly.

"Status of hostile?"

"Active Sir. Request reinforcements to deal with him."

"Your request is granted Sergeant. Teams 2 and 3 assist 4. We cannot allow the UNSC to discover the location of our ship."

For once Leo did not suppress his reaction in a Spartan's manner. The Insurrectionists. . . They had a ship, the way off or Reach Leo had been searching for. He felt the pain in his head disappear almost immediately, as a smile came over his face.

There was a way off of Reach now. There was a way to save Sara and Rozsa. _They__could _survive, and all he would have to do was find out where the rebels were keeping their ship. He allowed himself a moment to be distracted with a feeling of hope he had not truly felt in some time.

A distraction that nearly cost the Spartan his life as the sound of an Energy Sword being activated reached his ears. Rolling to the right, Leo barely avoided the curve of the blade as it passed by where his left leg had been by just several small centimeters. Noble Six continued his roll until he felt his feet touch the ground again, where he then kicked off the ground. Twisting in the air slightly Leo managed to land on his knees facing his opponent, his helmet now held in his right hand while the other crushed the radio.

Standing before him, its face hidden by the mask of an Elite Ranger stood a pearl white armored alien. Its posture was ready for any counter attack the Spartan could make at the moment, an energy sword held in its left hand. The arm was bent at the elbow so that the blade was close to the Elites mask giving it another layer of protection, while its right hand was slightly curled upwards.

It held a second energy sword in the right hand as well, along with at least six plasma grenades at the waist. On its back was a Jackal carbine, placed in a position where with the aliens speed would take only a second to pull off and begin to fire. Slipping his helmet back on Leo silently cursed his luck.

The Elite before him was clearly a Commando class soldier, one of the Elites Special Forces part of the Covenant military. They were easily the best of the Elite military, and it was armed to the teeth. Unfortunately the two weapons Leo held did not carry the ammunition necessary to penetrate the Elites armor, let alone its shields.

The lieutenant cursed his momentary feeling of hope. Even with the possibility of a ship that would take him and the two girls off world, there was still the Covenant fleet in orbit. The Elite before him was an unfortunate reminder of that fact.

* * *

_**1607 (Human Time) Outskirts of small village**_

_**Commando**_

Voro 'Refumai felt his satisfaction in finally meeting the Demon face to face reach the same level as his desire to fight. Behind the mask he wore his mandibles twitched in anticipation. The first move he had made were a final test of the Demon's skill, a last show of proof of its skills. Voro was glad to say that the Demon had successfully passed his final test.

The Sangheili Swordsman then threw the spare Sword at the Demon, still inactive however. The Demon quickly grasped the hilt as it pulled out a knife as well. Voro could clearly see the confusion the Demon's movements revealed to any viewer. Perhaps it needed a visual representation of what Voro wanted from it.

Slowly the Operations Officer deactivated his own blade. Placing it back on its resting place, the warrior then began to remove the carbine from his back. Laying the weapon near one of the human bodies, the Swordsman then deactivated his shields. Once that was done he soon grasped his blade again and activated it.

"Demon today we duel as true warriors."

With that Voro launched his attack; a low slash aimed at the Demons legs. With impressive reaction time the Demon activated its own blade and blocked the strike. Detaching from the locked blades Voro began a flurry of cuts that the Demon hastily blocked in a rather poor form. It took a step back before pivoting on its left foot, the Demon swung it blade in a path towards the Sangheili's head.

Voro leapt back from the surprisingly quick counter attack. With his expert experience at swordplay Voro knew that if he had been a second slower their duel would have ended then and there. Slowly the pair of warriors began to circle one another.

With a sense of exultation Voro prepared for a glorious battle against an extremely worthy opponent.


	13. Chapter 13

_Locked Blades_

_**B312**_

_**1607 Hours, September 3, 2552, Outskirts of unidentified Reach Village**_

A mass of green and gold rolled to its left narrowly avoiding a blade held by a pearl white armored figure. The second figure pulled back its weapon arm and lashed out again, in a repeat of its previous actions. And just like before the smaller green form hastily parried the blow. This time however as the blade was knocked back the larger figure brought its knee into the center of the smaller.

Leo gritted his teeth powerfully and released the breath he had been holding the moment before his opponents' knee connected. By releasing the pent up air the Spartan avoided being winded when he failed to avoid the strike. The lieutenant did however leap backwards using the momentum from the blow to create a small distance between him and his alien opponent.

Landing on his back the Officer barely managed to roll the right as a hoofed foot stomped where his legs had one been. Leo then pushed off the ground with his left hand and swung the blade in his right towards the Elites hidden neck. With an almost casual ease the Commando twisted its neck upwards so that the blade passed through empty air. The Elite did _not _see the pair of armored feet lash out at its torso. With enough force to dent titanium the alien was pushed away from the Spartan on the ground.

Taking a moment to breathe again Leo rapidly came to stand on his own two feet again. At the same time the alien was doing the exact same, mirroring his movements as though it was his own doppelganger. For the four time he moved to the right and the Elite stepped to the left, beginning to circle one another again.

This time Leo struck first; a diagonal slash that would have cleaved his adversary into two halves. The Elite bent its arm back towards it, and moved its rest slightly downwards, the blade resting in a position to block the Spartans blow. Instead of waiting the pearl white armored alien pushed off with its right foot, the blade drawing nearer to the Spartans own.

The two blades met halfway and the energy behind both blows transferred into the arms of their wielders. One narrowed his eyes in frustration, while the other did the same with grudging respect in place of frustration. The Spartan made a fist with his free hand and attempted to deliver a blow, one he hoped would penetrate the Elites armor, to where he knew one of the aliens' hearts was located. The Commando managed to disengage from the lock and hastily managed to bring its arm down to block the blow.

With a growl of momentary pain the alien then swung the energy sword in a wide sweeping motion. Knowing that there was not a single chance in parrying the swipe Leo quickly decided to duck under the path of the formed plasma weapon. He heard a quick hissing sound and saw a small amount of sparks fall before his black visor. The lieutenant cursed at how close he had been to literally losing his head. Eyes locked on the center of mass of his opponent the Spartan soon developed a plan of action.

With a roar of determination the Officer deactivated his own blade and rushed the Elite before him. Wrapping his arms around the alien Leo kicked off the ground launching himself and his opponent several feet in the air. The Spartan cried out in pain as he felt two clutched fists strike the area of armor above his spine, his vision darkening for a brief moment. Despite the pain he continued to hold on until he felt them both land on the ground once again.

He felt the Elite move beneath him and braced himself for the inevitable. The Spartan felt the bent knee strike him in the same spot as before and was kicked off of his opponent. When he landed Leo did become winded at the impact. Without pausing for a single moment he forced his now sore back to go straight as he slowly stood. With a grim smirk he noted that the Elite was also slowly getting up and Leo swore he could feel its invisible glare attempt to burn his very soul.

"Didn't hurt you too bad did I?" he attempted to taunt the alien, but doubted its effectiveness as he heard his own haggard voice. His answer came in a deep low growl he knew was coming from the Commandos' throat. "I think I'll take that as a sign of agreement then shall I?"

The Elite did not offer any type of response other than to lower the blade until it began to burn the ground. Knowing what would likely come from that slight bending of its knees, the Spartan III reactivated his own energy sword and brought in front of him. The two soldiers each stared at each other for several moments before each breaking into a dead run for the other. The Elites' blade remained near the ground, occasionally dipping into the Reach surface and leaving more short burn marks, a taste of what would happen when the Covenant warships reached that part of Reach.

Leo held his own weapon parallel to the ground beneath him and lowered himself closer to its surface. When the pair were within range of using their weapons they each struck as fast as the approaching lightning storms. The Spartan lunged with his blade in an attempt to skewer the Elite Commando; while the Commando itself attempted to amputate its opponent's left leg above the knee. Each however scored nothing more than light grazing blows that did little more than put a blemish over their armors.

Throughout their brief attacks the pair did not cease moving and soon passed each other. Turning fully to face each other they attacked again and again from their positions. One would attempt to disable the other only to barely avoid a slash at their backs. Using the momentum from the miss of his most recent slash, Leo spun on the ball of his right foot and moved for an uppercut. The Elite mirrored his movements perfectly and they found themselves once again with their blades locked together.

The Elite pulled back slightly extending its own reach, while still keeping their blades intertwined however, and pulled back a fist. Leo mirrored the movements to the best of his own abilities which he knew wasn't much. His opponent was very skilled, that much at least was _painfully_ obvious. With the increased reaction time of a Spartan he managed to track the movement of the fist the instant it was launched.

With unimaginably nearly instantaneous reflexes Leo moved his own open hand in the direction of the oncoming fist. Catching it in his free left hand the Spartan squeezed tightly unwilling to release the Elites' fisted right hand. Applying pressure in the same manner as done to a recently deceased Reach Insurrectionist, Leo moved to deliver a powerful kick to his opponents midsection.

To the Spartan Officers great, and highly frustrated, and total surprise the Elite lifted up its own knee to take the blow. For a highly trained and experienced soldier such as Leo to dangers of his position soon became apparent. He was fighting a larger, physically superior opponent, he was balancing on one leg, and both arms were in use protecting himself. The soldier could think of a dozen ways in which he could easily exploit such a position, and he knew that the Commando was having the same type of though process. Still, and against all likelihood of validity, the young lieutenant somehow found himself hoping he would be proven wrong about his assumptions, just like so many other times he'd been wrong on Reach.

Unfortunately he was correct in his reasoning about his opponents list of possibilities. The Elite used its free leg to push itself off the ground a short distance. By doing so it destabilized the center of gravity the lone Spartan held. To further trouble Leo his opponent then leaned into the locked blades, forcing all its weight into the Spartans right wrist. These actions combined in Leo losing both his balance as well as his grip on the energy sword. The only positive note to his fall was that the aliens' own momentum pushed it into a roll away from him that, thankfully, provided a distance of several meters.

Biting back a scream of utter frustration, which was incredibly hard to do given his situation, the Spartan saw the Elite charge already baring down on him. Pushing aside any negative thoughts he reacted accordingly. Without the energy sword in hand Leo quickly drew his temporarily sheathed combat knife. The small foot long blade was not much when compared to the weapon held in the creatures' left hand, but it was still _something_.

Leo had only been able to take three steps before the Commando had swung its blade in a downwards arc. Lowering himself closer to the ground Leo held up his UA/BRACER to block the arm coming to sever his left arm at the shoulder. Knife in his right hand Leo lunged at the location of one of the Elite's hearts a second time. The amount of speed Leo had behind his attack proved enough for the knife to penetrate the pearl white armor.

Roaring loud enough to hurt his own Spartan ears the Elite pulled back from the lieutenant. Taking control of the opportunity Leo delivered a powerful kick towards the hilt of the knife, driving it further into the flesh of the alien and pushing it away. Regrettably the kick had left him open to the pained creatures counter attack; a final swing of its own energy sword. Leo was unable to avoid having the weapon slice through his chest plate, the tips of the weapon burning across his chest and barely avoiding his internal organs by centimeters.

Taking several steps back Leo held his right arm over the painful wound on his chest. He felt a grim sense of satisfaction rise to the top of his emotions as he took note of the Elites' own injuries. It kept its free hand near the now flood of purple blood, above the hilt of the knife; which due to the amount of force behind his kick was barely an inch short of being fully inside its flesh.

Leo knew that since the Elites had multiple hearts that his last attack was likely not life threatening. Still it did manage to earn him at least a few moments of respite from the furious melee he had been engaged in with the alien. He wince in pain as he tried to take in a deep breath and grimaced. The energy sword had clearly singed his lungs somewhat. He supposed he was fortunate that he had enough luck that singed lungs were all he had received as injuries. Had he been just inches closer to the Elite he wondered if there he would have had a _single _lung left, or even his heart.

"Well, well, well." he managed to say without much coughing. "I think we are near the end of this battle now, don't you?" the only response to his question was the Elite raising its energy sword again and bringing the blood covered right hand into a guarding position. Narrowing his eyes Leo searched for where his own weapon had found itself now that the knife was gone. Dimly he wondered if the bullets in the MA3 he had tossed aside could penetrate the Elites' armor if he aimed where the knife was imbedded.

A shout of pain escaped his lips as he felt to his knees, clutching at his now shield less right shoulder, the sound of a high powered sniper rifle echoing across the village after the bullet had penetrated the armor. The bullet failed to fully go through the MJOLNIR armor however and the round remained lodged in his shoulder. Rolling to the side he managed to avoid a second shot that would have likely gone through his chest. The moment he his shields began to recharge Leo turned to look at his new threat.

Only for a third shot to strike his helmet just above the visor. The amount of charge in his shields prevented the round to penetrate the helmet, but not the amount of kinetic energy that followed. Leo felt his head whip back, the amount of pressure rapidly build in the forefront of his skull between his eyes. His last thoughts before losing consciousness were of failing to honor his promise, and the fact the Commando was still very much alive.

The Reach Insurrection had claimed its first Spartan victim.

_Reunited Preview_

_**1913 (Human Time) Unidentified Reach Village**_

_**Commando **_

Rolling behind the burning remains of a destroyed human vehicle Voro 'Refumai leaned out slightly and shot another of the humans in the torso. The carbines' green rounds flying through the body with little to no resistance. The Sangheili Swordsman promptly fired several more rounds and ended the lives of another pair of human filth. The moment the carbine had expended its final round he leapt over the momentary cover with a vicious roar.

The remaining humans began to turn and flee from the Sangheili not bothering to continue to fire at him. Closing the distance rapidly Voro lowered his hand and gripped one of the plasma grenades he had attached to his waist. Removing one he quickly activated the weapon, the blue glow causing his white armor shine a brilliant sapphire color. Slowing down slightly the warrior pulled back his arm and then threw the device into the center of a closely packed group of humans.

The grenade fell towards the fearful weaklings and came into contact with the only human without a weapon. That human who had seconds before been clutching a bleeding shoulder wound soon cried out in primal fear as the blue device continued to glow from where it had landed on his neck. Those nearest to him promptly attempted to get as far from their doomed comrade as possible. Their fate was sealed the instant the grenade detonated no later than a single second after the man's first shouts of fear. The bright glow expanded until it seemed to swallow those humans nearest to it, ending the lives of nearly half a dozen.

Satisfied with his latest kills the Swordsman turned on his heel and looked at the last surviving human that dared attack him. The pitiful creature whimpered in pain as it slowly attempted to crawl away from the bloodied monster that he and his allies had the misfortune of attacking.

With the slow patience of a hunter Voro began to walk slowly towards the lone being. His hoofed feet stomping on the muddy planets surface and occasionally steeping on the bodies of more dead humans. The sound of flesh being crushed swept over the nearly empty village and caused the last human to cry out in fear.

As the Swordsman drew nearer and activated his energy sword the human pushed itself onto its back. With wide fear filled eyes the human began an incoherent babbling as Voro drew nearer. There was no sympathy in the Sangheili as it realized that the creature was begging for its life. Foolish, weak willed, filth, heretical weakling creatures was all that humanity was, and as such they deserved no mercy for their existence.

The Sangheili stopped before nearly stepping on the humans' legs. His eyes narrowed in disgust as the human continued to feebly beg for its own worthless life. Such actions were frowned upon by all of his people, and to many lines of blood it was a crime warranting death. Voro lifted his eyes from the miserable life form cowering beneath him, the human still attempting to escape the inevitable. That was what truly caused the loathing he felt for the human wretches; they refused to meet them honorably.

With a growl the Swordsman deactivated his own blade. The hissing sound seemed to stun the human for several moments before it turned to face him. The pathetic creatures' eyes shone with disbelief and hope for its survival. Voro continued to glare at the human at his feet for several moments before he moved his hand down. A shriek of fear pierced the air of the surrounding area as the Swordsman gripped the human by the neck. Lifting the human up he began to walk towards a burning building, a single desire filling his very being.

As the smell of burning wood grew more pronounced realization seemingly dawned on the human. Somehow aware of what Voro had planned it began to strike his body in a panic. The Sangheili did not loosen his grip on the humans' neck as they drew closer to the building. Coming to a halt the Swordsman pushed the human against the hot remains of a the building he had been headed towards. The heat caused the creature to cry out in pain once again as it ceased to fight him.

Voro growled as he let the human fall to the ground; the strange orange uniform scorched off its back revealing the now burned flesh. Slowly and deliberately he reached for the humans back, he dug his four fingers into the burned flesh. Ignoring the pained shouts of the creature again he lifted the body up into the air and then gazed into the burning flames.

The entire world would soon suffer the same fate he was about to force onto the human. There was only one way to bring the Holy Forerunners honor in the face of the human infestation in the galaxy. Only one way to purify the universe the Covenant existed in. The humans would burn away and the worlds would be glassed completely, such was the duty of his people. With that final thought Voro threw the human into the center of the flames, the force of the throw breaking the creatures spine when its back struck a burning piece of timber.

Voro snarled as the battle he had been fighting for the past hours finally came to a close. The Officer knew that he could have easily ended the lives of those humans had he not been injured so heavily and exhausted from his battle with the Demon. He stared at the burning creature as it writhed in its death roes for several beats of his hearts before turning his back to it and began walking away.

There was still one human left alive however; and it was where Voro was now walking towards. Now that the humans had been dealt with the Sangheili Swordsman allowed himself to wrap an arm around its injury. The knife the Demon had forced into one of his hearts still remained in place and blood continued to flow out from the wound in rivers as the dying organ continued to beat. The Swordsman winced in pain as the beating of that heart became more forced and struggled to continue to pump his own purple life blood.

_**A226 1734 Hours, September 4, 2552 **_

Noble 3, Jun, looked from the shocked faces of the two human girls before him towards the village. Shutting down the engine of the M274 the Spartan III calmly steeped of the machine. His eyes met with those of the oldest, the same woman Noble had encountered weeks ago.

"I'm going to ask once. Where is the Spartan?"

_**AN: Well sorry folks. I forgot to put this thing up. I intended to put this up as the actual chapter 13, but it seems I loaded up the wrong document. Oops? **_

_**Anyway this is the last time I'm putting up a Noble Life Update for at least a month give or take few days. I'm worried if I keep putting up chapters I'll burn myself out of this story. And I do not want that to happen, hell no. **_

_**Oh, and the actual Chapter 14 is going to be much different that the preview. Well besides the Voro POV, that stays the same because it satisfies my desire to brutally kill yet another Insurrectionist. Human Barbeque for Brutes? **_

_**Also, I will not explain the Jun at the end in this note. If you want to know how he gets there you can either wait, or you can PM and I will tell you. I actually got this idea from a reviewer of mine. Just a Crazy-Man, you know exactly how Jun got there. Don't spoil it in a review btw man. **_

_**Lastly, I recently got an idea for a new fic after reading a fic called NU: RedX Rising, by 26-Lord-Pain. It is a Teen Titans/Star Wars cross with several big Titans names. Jason Todd, AKA Red Hood, and Ravager are just a few. I'd like it if some of you guys decide to check it out, as well as 26-Lord-Pain's story and leave a few reviews his way. After the help he gave me coming up with the right way to do that new fic getting him a few reviews is the least I can do. **_

_**OH, and for the record. Sorry if you though this was a new chapter. Blame me and forgetting to put up the right form of this chapter. Lastly, to any who remember. My girls dad finally accepted that we did **__**NOT **__**do anything like what he thought. And I can finally go over to her place and not be afraid of being attacked by him or their crazy demon-dog. Why does the damned dog hate me?**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Dear, Noble Life Reader**

**It is with the utmost regret with which I state that I will not be updating my story with any new chapters for sometime yet. Instead I have made a decision which shall accomplish one of two separate ends. The first is of course outrage and several Flames on me. The second is what I hope is the most likely outcome. A reluctant but no less understanding acceptance. What am I speaking of you may ask? **

**I intend to rewrite Noble Life from the beginning to the point where it is now. This is not a decision I have reached lightly. It will be difficult remaking something I know is successful, not to be vain mind you, not to mention a key part of my enjoyment. I have reread my work several times over in the last few days. I have come to the conclusion that I am no longer satisfied with the status of my work. **

**. . . . Okay, mayyyybe not that. More like my girlfriend, thank whatever higher power exists for giving me a girl who likes video games as much as I do (cue tears of joy), found out I'm a fan fic writer and decided to see if I was any good. While her own feedback was well received it was also, how to put this, somewhat saddening. She said it was good, but the mistakes kept it from being really great. I am used to reviews saying that but, no offense to you guys intended, it is a lot different when someone tells you what they think of your work in your face. **

**Therefore I will begin rewriting every chapter this weekend. Expect the new, and hopefully improved, Noble Life to come back to life next week. I suggest you reread my story once more if you actually enjoyed it, as it won't be exactly the same when I begin putting it back up. **

**Suggestions for anything new to include are welcome. And if someone who is skilled at drawing could possibly make a sketch of Leo during some point of the story, that would be way wicked. Huh. Look at that. I start out talking in an official manner, and now I'm back to being a teenager. Meh, not so weird I guess. **

**I will be adding several additional scenes, changing certain bits of dialogue, and quite possibly redoing all action scenes, as well as add several more for good measure. I pray to God you are all understanding. In your review please leave me with the knowledge of what you assumed was the best part of Noble Life Version 1, as I will be calling this. The next one will aptly be named Noble Life V2. Also, I have a few ideas for the next category of my possible new fan fics in the next few months. Give me some ideas for anything you guys might be interested in. Submit any OC's for anything you suggest as well, since I am obviously not above using OC freedom in my work. Oh and don't worry about my Elites so far. Voro and his Shipmaster aren't going anywhere. **

**Off the top of my head I got an idea for a potential Naruto, or Gundam fic. But that's just what they are. Ideas. Noble Life will never become a secondary interest in my writing. I have every intention, no the unflinching desire, to make it my first complete story. **

**Thank you for reading this. Thank you for staying loyal to my work. Thank you for the support you've shown me these past six months. Thank you for the 112 reviews I've gotten for NL so far. Thank you for your sympathies after my grandmother passed. All in all, thank you for being so good to me. **

**Noble Life was originally meant to be something I did for fun, to release some frustration I had over Halo Reach's ending. Now? Its much more than that. I'm not writing for me anymore. I'm writing to make something you guys can enjoy taking a few minutes to read during your free time. ****J**

**Sincerely, **

**SpartanCommando**

**(An inclusion in the opening of my new first chap, to the first person who spots a reference to one of the best anime ever in here) **

**Also if you people haven't heard yet. . . I may be more inclined to updeat if I get a few more reviews in some of my other stories. *Hint, Hint, Wink, Wink***


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